tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3286769610425930832018-02-15T11:53:49.924+13:00Sitting on the Classroom MattMatt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-29893960618486393672017-07-30T14:09:00.000+12:002017-07-30T18:18:52.747+12:00Curriculum Integration or Thematic Units?A colleague shared <a href="http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/press/abstracts/Chapter%202.pdf" target="_blank">a chapter from <i>Connecting Curriculum, Linking Learning</i>, an NZCER publication.</a><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col width="*"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="background-color: #6fa8dc; border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fraser, D., Aitken, V, &amp; Whyte B. (2013) <i>"Chapter Two: Curriculum Integration." Connecting Curriculum, Linking Learning</i>. Wellington: NZCER</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></div><br /><a href="http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/styles/full_node_image/private/connecting-curriculum.jpg?itok=pAcUjXZK" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="180" src="https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/styles/full_node_image/private/connecting-curriculum.jpg?itok=pAcUjXZK" /></a>This chapter was both affirming and challenging at the same time. It made me think about whether the learning opportunities we plan for and offer in Connected Learning are truly "curriculum integration" or simply "thematic units" that cater for as many Learning Areas as possible. For example, the latter would demand "fitting in" English, Science, Social Sciences, Mathematics <i>and</i> (for example) Drama into every aspect of the learning journey. The former would demand more student agency, leading to only demanding integration of the Learning Areas that are authentically applicable to the learning context. What we planned to do in Term Two with Mantle of the Expert (MOTE) was consistent with Curriculum Integration, but we ended up resorting back to more of a Thematic Unit after some challenges with the "building belief" phase of MOTE. What we have planned for Term Three should be more successful as true Curriculum Integration.<br /><br />I have come to the conclusion that I advocate more strongly for Connected Learning being Curriculum Integration rather than Thematic Learning. There are a few reasons, primarily based upon a statement in p16 of <a href="http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/1108/11989/file/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.pdf" target="_blank"><i>The New Zealand Curriculum</i></a>: "All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas." The word "natural" is important here. Inclusion of certain Learning Areas into thematic units can feel contrived at times. While some Learning Areas may get less explicit "coverage" this way, I put more value in the potential for the depth of cross-curricular, authentic learning that can occur in true curriculum integration.<br /><br />Curriculum Integration in Connected Learning will need to see us include some key steps that I will quote directly from the chapter:<br /><ol><li>"Negotiating the curriculum." Students take a role "in co-planning, exploring and evaluating" their chosen inquiries or contexts. In our plan for Term three, this is explicit as learners explore a social action they will be challenged to actually carry out. We are limiting it within a parameter, but it is wide-reaching: "Think Globally, Act Locally."</li><li>"Issues driven rather than topic driven." Term Three is about Planet Earth. That is a broad enough theme to allow for this. As mentioned above, we are focusing upon a social action, so the learning (and action) will definitely be issue driven.</li><li>"Scaffolding [of] student' learning rather than directing them." We are already looking at using SOLO Taxonomy, Design Processes (Technology Learning Area) and Investigating (Science Learning Area) to help with such scaffolding. Why reinvent the wheel...?</li><li>"Only draws upon learning areas that relate to the central issues of the inquiry." This feels uncomfortable at first, to be honest. We have yet to explore geometry in any depth, and I expect few inquiries will have need for geometry in Term Three. However, we have to remember that we are viewing Connected Learning as an eight term learning journey. There will be times when every critical element of the explicitly-included Learning Areas will be explored. We are spending a few weeks to explore some aspects of "Planet Earth" as a theme, and hope that these inspire learners to come up with authentic social actions that they can actually succeed in. Once they choose (and negotiate) their issue and inquiry, only the Learning Areas that are related will be explored.</li></ol>Finally, there are a couple of things raised in this chapter that really do put the learner at the centre by shifting from thematic units to curriculum integration. The first was that "...curriculum integration affords students status as negotiators in the pursuit of knowledge. Their say matters and, as a result, their commitment in enhanced." Last week, a learner asked me why we were getting them to come up with "Great Ideas" to tackle Global Climate Change, or Pollution.<br />"We are only kids. Nobody cares what we think."<br />It was one of those moments when my heart sunk, but it also sparked a great conversation and I explained to her (then later to the class) that we were going to help them see that they did indeed have the potential to make a real difference to their own community, region, country and/or planet. They were going to be challenged to matter.<br /><br />This chapter made another statement that helped affirm that we are doing the right thing by aiming to do the right thing by our learners:<br />"Negotiating curriculum...has been recognised as an approach that caters for the learning needs of Māori students in secondary schools."<br />In my experience, whatever works well for Māori learners has positive outcomes for all learners. I have also noticed that empowering learners as decision makers results in higher engagement and better learning outcomes for all learners.<br /><br />It was great to read a text that affirmed and challenged the direction we are hoping to take the learning in Connected Learning in Term Three and beyond.<br /><br />My Further (Future) Reading:<br />Bishop, P. A. &amp; Berryman, M. (2009). The Te Kotahitanga effective teaching profile. Set: Research Information for Teachers, 2, 27-34<br />Drake, S. M. (1998) Creating integrated curriculum: Proven ways to increase student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press<br />Drake, S. M. &amp; Burns, R. C. (2004) Meeting standards through integrated curriculum. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum DevelopmentMatt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-62142599337610961212017-06-13T15:19:00.002+12:002017-06-16T07:30:11.452+12:00Addressing Numeracy<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="edjourney_main.jpg" height="235" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/yZ51Qs9oqC8YWqMXeeRjiH0TFWmeSaHwUB3Hg6gi7M5Ap1cjijphqvDUkJ-RzGzYu6VRQYD-YguY8QKHpz6m3uthbPIH1DFaa1TVEMqZ2ywGucKyYij9TH6-pMp32f6JDJF1X0tK" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="624" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have been reading </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#EDJourney</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Grant Lichtman for quite a while now. I have learned a lot from this book, and applied a lot of it to my teaching in the past six months. The lessons I am learning from the book now are even more applicable to something we are trying to do better at - Numeracy.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I used </span><a href="http://www.easybib.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Easybib</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to create this citation for the book:</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col width="*"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="background-color: #6fa8dc; border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lichtman, Grant. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Hoboken: Wiley, 2014. Print.</span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Cz5dObxcmd_IAyPikwEjjm1aB0p_WnUCrQV41GfueNhff00OuO0EO2WVbtE0fAWMbEOmHRdI0ateC2beIISxgIba1bbl13VK4Tbx6PzRdu7TzsIqL8RECp1SdR6grtBuDoZkEA8W" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Screen-Shot-2014-07-17-at-8.45aJul17.png" border="0" height="295" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Cz5dObxcmd_IAyPikwEjjm1aB0p_WnUCrQV41GfueNhff00OuO0EO2WVbtE0fAWMbEOmHRdI0ateC2beIISxgIba1bbl13VK4Tbx6PzRdu7TzsIqL8RECp1SdR6grtBuDoZkEA8W" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="220" /></a></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 6 was an unexpected goldmine for where my thinking is regarding Numeracy. While I am really happy with the level and amount of Mathematics being covered and used in Connected Learning, I have been wondering how to get more Numeracy into our Learners’ programmes. This will have a home in Ako Learning in the near future, but how do I want it to look for the Learners whose programmes I am overlooking?</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><h2 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 18pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 16pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chapter 6: Schools are More Dynamic: Mess, Noise and Chaos</span></h2><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This chapter explored a few things (that I think we do well here, actually):</span></div><ol style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Listen to Students</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why Go to School?</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Students Own the Learning</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Blending Content and Skills</span></div></li><li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reach Every Student, Every Day</span></div></li></ol><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was the last section of Chapter 6 that helped me unpack how Numeracy may look in my Ako Sessions. This is based upon Grant Lichtman’s account of a Mathematics programme being run at Presbyterian Day School in Memphis. This is an Elementary School (equivalent to a primary school in New Zealand), but what we can learn from them has a lot of value in our setting.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each Math Programme runs for eight days. The “units” include video podcasts, short assignments and tests that the Learners can opt into. The video podcasts and assignments (possibly the tests as well) offer real time feedback to the Learner and Learning Coach. It would be great if the same feedback went to parents as well.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners who pass the test in the first three days move into project-based learning, called “Guided Challenge”. Those who do not pass the test (or opt out of the test) in the first three days move into a “Learning Circuit”. So much of this programme appeals to me for how we can support our Learners’ numeracy development here.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eight Day Programme</span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For us to offer such a programme over eight days, I expect that would take a chunk of time out of two Ako Blocks per week, so run for four weeks (per critical numeracy skill). This would not detract greatly from the other important learning and opportunities in Ako, while adding the support to develop every Learner’s numeracy (one of our school’s Critical Skills).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6T4LvRaPLw/WULeRtjq70I/AAAAAAAAEsM/twfVfNmunkcvWso5qi3tirAUQI8ENRUkwCLcBGAs/s1600/Numbers%2BCount.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="949" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6T4LvRaPLw/WULeRtjq70I/AAAAAAAAEsM/twfVfNmunkcvWso5qi3tirAUQI8ENRUkwCLcBGAs/s400/Numbers%2BCount.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners would be attempting the test in the second week of such a programme, which would be ideal timing. They would have had enough time and opportunity to get support from Learning Coaches, whānau, peers and/or other mentors etc. to make a genuine effort with the test. It is also early enough in the programme to allow students to really “get their teeth into” any inquiry-based extension work (Guided Challenge)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learning Circuits</span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There will be numeracy skills that Learners struggle with. There will be Learners who always struggle with numeracy. Persisting with the same type of work (podcasts, videos, worksheets etc.) is not going to address this. Expecting all Ako coaches to be able to support these Learners is also not going to address this adequately.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="Albert-Einstein-Insanity.jpg" height="247" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/a-BhHnT1CWGmeJbBxdVeLxtFprKV7MReAEfCN5OhkEPZ7zdd2WilrIY5khRXz2eqcN-OPguLBp8eOz8jNfdS6ZH5vVvt_4Olft7qes8xSqWqNnQOy94rbv2XzjkQ-oFqTrVm3j8D" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="415" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Using the skills and time of Learning Coaches who are confident with leading the learning in numeracy is key to this being successful, if implemented here. If a variety of “workshops” are offered by different Learning Coaches, all of which unpack the numeracy skill in different ways, Learners should make progress. If these workshops within the Learning Circuits are engaging </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> provide enough repetition, Learners should gain more fluency in the numeracy skills being explored in each unit.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guided Challenge</span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may come across as a bit of an academic snob for saying this, but it is this side of the programme that really excites me. Not only are there Learning Circuits to support those Learners who are struggling, there is the opportunity to extend and challenge all other Learners. As a teacher who specialises in an aspect of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), this is the “next step” that I really like.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Learners who already have fluency in a particular aspect of numeracy can be challenged to apply and/or extend that fluency via an abstract and/or complex context. I can imagine a lot of contexts that could form the basis of Guided Challenges, and I bet the other pro-STEM Learning Coaches here would jump at the opportunity to design and lead the learning in a Guided Challenge.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The pathways this opens for our Learners are also exciting. The obvious pathway is that Learners may get even more engaged in STEM and the opportunities STEM courses can provide. As part of that, our numeracy programme could be (should be?) supporting Learners in gaining the NCEA qualifications (and any other NZQA qualification that may exist by then) along the way. The real “wow” that popped into my head when I was reading about this was that, in Years 11-13, these Guided Challenges could be helping prepare Learners for Olympiad and Scholarship as well. The natural next thought was that these Guided Challenges could also be preparing our Year 9 and 10 Learners for Cantamaths, and other such Mathematics-based competitions.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><h3 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 4pt; margin-top: 16pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #434343; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Numbers Count</span></h3><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The section of Chapter 6 may have been titled “Reach Every Student, Every Day”, but it really helped solve a burning issue for me: Numeracy. I can see how such a programme would indeed reach every student. Hopefully it would reach them every day, too. Mathematics can be a bit polarising, so even if it doesn’t “reach” them, it would at least allow them to grow as learners.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think that a system of real time (ideally automatic) feedback would also be critical to its success. Every Ako Coach could facilitate that, while the STEM-specialists could lead the learning in the Guided Challenges and Learning Circuits. If parents/whānau </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learners </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> learning coaches all have real time access to the feedback, this can only help “Reach Every Student, Every Day”.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am going to enjoy to continue reading #</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: italic; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EDJourney</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: &quot;arial&quot;; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, by Grant Lichtman, and to continue to learn more and challenge my thinking, as well as the way we do things here.</span></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/117319561004832919875noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-16674871612306793852017-05-30T21:13:00.001+12:002017-05-31T07:23:06.504+12:00Connected Learning Musings...Tomorrow, we will be presenting to the community what we have done in Connected Learning so far, and what we plan to do in the months ahead. I have to be articulate tomorrow, so why not practise it here...?<br /><br /><h2><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Term One: Identity</span></h2>In Term One, we looked at Identity. I have already shared a &nbsp;little bit from that. We had Health working with us. Mathematics, Science, Social Sciences and English are ever-present. Our big idea was Identity. What a great context to explore: personal identity, personal journeys, nature vs. nurture (vs. nous), and our country's identity. We finished with "Kiwiana Games", and unpacked the results with some pretty clever Statistics. Throughout the term, Hauora, working in teams, and Kiwi identity really stood out. But we also spent time exploring genetics, statistics, graphing, geology, push-pull factors, Māori mythology, and formal writing, to name a few.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYk6g16rxOA/WS0q7TXzBCI/AAAAAAAAErU/n3Vk5MSjPs0eEw5v0fkzaRMC-004Q-EtwCLcB/s1600/Shirt.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="489" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYk6g16rxOA/WS0q7TXzBCI/AAAAAAAAErU/n3Vk5MSjPs0eEw5v0fkzaRMC-004Q-EtwCLcB/s320/Shirt.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span id="goog_1514247695"></span><span id="goog_1514247696"></span><br /><br />In saying all of that, we also felt like we struggled a little bit with keeping the some tasks authentic and engaging. However, when it came to our celebration (Kiwiana Games), the positives quashed most of our anxieties and where we felt we may have fallen short. Did we cover every Learning Area in real depth? No. We made the decision to primarily focus on only a couple of Learning Areas per term, with the others supporting the contexts and learning. There is one big element from English being focused on per term, as well. This means we have a film study and a lot more Science and Mathematics to do in Term Two!<br /><br /><h2><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Term Two: Movement and MOTE</span></h2>Term Two. Connected Learning Theme: Movement. Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, English and Drama. Initial thoughts: Biomechanics, Dance, Social Movements, Political Movements...<br /><br />In the end, we decided to break Movement down into three main themes:<br /><br /><ol><li>Geological Movement</li><li>Polynesian Migration</li><li>Political and Social Movement</li></ol><div>The way Drama fits in is that we are teaching the entire term using a method called <a href="http://mantleoftheexpert.co.nz/" target="_blank">Mantle of the Expert (MOTE)</a>. The class is a "company". The learners are "experts" employed by the company. The company is given commissions by (fake) businesses to complete by a deadline. The staff attend Professional Development (actual teaching of skills and content). The staff have to fill in fortnightly self Performance Reviews, each focusing on a different KPI.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u3YRQ7QSwBU/WS0s959Mo9I/AAAAAAAAErg/VgI_adT1b3kU5LsqZr5b4hp91juOswxMACLcB/s1600/Performance%2BReview.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="737" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u3YRQ7QSwBU/WS0s959Mo9I/AAAAAAAAErg/VgI_adT1b3kU5LsqZr5b4hp91juOswxMACLcB/s400/Performance%2BReview.PNG" width="368" /></a></div><div><br /></div><h3><span style="color: #674ea7;">Building Belief</span></h3><div>In order to lead the learning in this way, we had to start the term building belief in the company and what it stands for. This has taken a lot of time with 58 learners, but we are now seeing the value in this step. Learners were genuinely invested in our latest commission, to the point where there were constructive (and not so constructive) disagreements, and frustrations...but also a very pleasing level of work and team work. It was probably really helped by the fact that they needed to present their Geology Roadshow to Y6-8 Learners from a nearby school!</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsCw6q7C2JA/WS0uiiN96VI/AAAAAAAAErs/F1_yGi14W7QPuIvfAtETiYS8wS2nz-B_ACLcB/s1600/logo%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="649" height="279" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZsCw6q7C2JA/WS0uiiN96VI/AAAAAAAAErs/F1_yGi14W7QPuIvfAtETiYS8wS2nz-B_ACLcB/s320/logo%2B1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beauty and the Fossil - the name and logo were devised by the class...and this was drawn by one of them!!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><br /><h3><span style="color: #674ea7;">The Hook</span></h3><div>To kick the term off, we wanted a hook. This would give the learners a few clues as to what their company was all about. An audio message from the company's CEO was played, followed up by a memo. Discretely hidden in the messages were some key qualities of the company. Also hidden in the messages were some clues as to what this company did.</div><div><br /></div><div>That troublesome intern (I think it was Intern Matt...) made a mess of the exhibits the staff had worked so well on. The courier would be here to collect the work to take them to the clients at 3pm...</div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1GLB8LJGDERnj3RnGXkcqCKnmMr8zZ1oqZdLWXnYa7MA/embed?start=true&amp;loop=true&amp;delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div></div><div><br /></div><div>What the learners did with this was very pleasing. Not one finished product was the same, yet they would all be valid exhibits to communicate an aspect of Earth Science.<br /><br />After the hook, we worked on Building Belief alongside a "mini commission". The clients (museums) were so impressed with our work, that they wanted the company to create lesson plans to go with the resources. These were at different age-levels. The output from the staff was a mixed bag, but it was interesting to see who had "bought into" the company and its values, and who was struggling with learning this way.<br /><br /><h3><span style="color: #674ea7;">Staff Professional Development</span></h3>It also led to our first PD Day. I led some learning around Plate Tectonics etc. Interestingly enough, most learners found out from the PD Day that they already knew most of this stuff, anyway! They really were "experts"...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RkuaAQYjbnSn0VsU39FjCRmk-y68OZXld5EobPRSNVQ/embed?start=true&amp;loop=true&amp;delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DdQuUbATyJQuXVP8tQ7-Cp1_F4rAuSzch9vVA9qAiaM/embed?start=true&amp;loop=true&amp;delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe><br /><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">Other Learning Opportunities</span></h3><div style="text-align: left;">Staying true to MOTE has been tricky, but I personally feel like I am slowly getting better at it. Learning in this way has seen us offer some really enjoyable and engaging learning:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>EOTC Visit to Canterbury Museum</li><ul><li>Archaeological "Dig"</li><li>Museum Audit (yes, we did an audit on some of their exhibits!)</li></ul><li>Geology Roadshow</li><ul><li>Authentic Audience</li><li>Feedback Analysis</li></ul><li>Company History</li><ul><li>Video "Archives" of key moments in our company's history</li><li>Advertisements/Infomercials</li></ul></ul><div>And coming up, we have a team-building day, constructing and racing boats. Personally, I am really looking forward to the Physics and Algebra (in context) that we will explore in this, as well as seeing the creativity the learners show in constructing their boats.</div><div><br /></div><div>In case any of our learners are reading this, I am not going to disclose any more spoilers. Please believe me when I say that we have some amazing commissions coming, and the final commission (celebration) could be epic.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have failed at being concise, but I do think I have unpacked why I am very proud of what we are achieving in Connected. I hope the community see the value in what their children are doing and learning, as well.</div></div></div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-57851184816090096892017-05-05T20:55:00.000+12:002017-05-05T21:16:04.711+12:00"Proof!" ReflectionsIt is far too long since I sat down to write. Working at a brand new school has been invigourating, while also being extremely busy. To get the wheels moving again, I thought a great place to start would be a reflection on <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/prove-it.html" target="_blank">this post</a>&nbsp;from February, about the Selected Learning course I taught, "Proof!".<br /><br />Since then, I have presented about this course at a Christchurch EduIgnite evening, held at Haeata Community Campus (another brand new school), and went waaaay over time in last night's #scichatNZ-run TeachMeetNZ Virtual. We have also celebrated the learning by having Learners "man" the crime scenes and labs for our Term One Exhibition evening at the end of last term.<br /><br />The video of the latter is here. My talk starts at the hour mark, but I do suggest watching the whole thing if you have a passion in Science education.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f-MEX5jL83Q" width="560"></iframe></div><br /><br />The following Slide are a hybrid from my EduIgnite presentation and out Exhibition evening:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="380" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oXr3dwLaHHtNtQxbcTKygXzmh_i2927Gd7RIhAheel4/embed?start=false&amp;loop=false&amp;delayms=3000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="600"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Positives</span></h3><div>Where to start...? This course was the highlight of my term. I loved working with these learners. I loved where they took the learning. The stand-out positives were:</div><div><ul><li>The learning was (on the whole) self-directed</li><li>Learner engagement was excellent</li><li>Learners could identify what they learned through the course, without prompting</li><li>We had fun</li></ul><h3></h3><h3><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Negatives</span></h3></div><div>It wasn't all rosy. So long as we learn from these, and make "Proof!" better in the future. The main things that stood out as negatives/challenges were:</div><div><ul><li>Difficulty finding mentors in a timely fashion</li><li>Not being able to resource all of the directions the learners wanted to take with their learning (e.g. dissections as part of autopsy; gel electrophoresis for DNA testing). This was a "new school" issue, not being able to order the desired equipment etc. in time for the start of the course.</li><li>Time. The lack of mentors meant we dedicated more time to research and learning of skills than we had planned.</li><li>Learners (generally) made limited progress in their ability to solve a staged crime scene. This may have been due to the complexity of the second crime scene, but this cannot be assumed.</li><li>Learners did not provide enough evidence of mastery of their chosen skill. This may have also been due to the complexity of the second crime scene, but there were other avenues for learners to present evidence, specifically via the "Sequence Your Skill" assignment.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><div><h3><span style="color: #0b5394;">The Interesting</span></h3></div><div>I found it interesting that most learners were focused on either:</div></div></div><div><ul><li>forensic science, or</li><li>police work (interrogation, specifically)</li></ul><div>I expected more to be interested in the law aspect of the course. Only one learner went down this road of inquiry/learning.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest "Wow!" moment of the course came with the learners who wanted the chance to write (and set up) a crime scene as their skill. I did not expect this; I did not plan for this; I was delighted by this. These two learners have shared their thoughts (and learning) in the Slides above. Check out how articulate they are about their own learning. They even identified their own mistakes in setting up the crime scene - one even had to clean hers up and start again, because her mistakes were irreversible.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><h3><span style="color: #0b5394;">Reflection</span></h3></div><div>I cannot wait to offer this course again. I have already set up boxes with the resources for the most popular skills. I have already ordered some of the chemicals and equipment that we were lacking. Next time, I will make sure we have the connections with the NZ Police, lawyers and a university in place, so the learners have easy access to mentors, and so we have easier access to experts and equipment (such as gel electrophoresis). Next time, the assessment tasks will be handed out earlier, to make it very clear to every learner what evidence they needed to present. Next time, I will write the second crime scene (for consistency etc.), but encourage the learners to write any crime scene that may be in the celebration.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, like many of the learners, I cannot wait for "Proof 2.0". I just don't know what it will look like yet... If you read this far, I would love to read your ideas for "Proof 2.0" in the Comments section.</div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-6730325580111981262017-02-21T20:48:00.000+13:002017-02-21T20:57:45.415+13:00Our Place, Our Story, Our IdentityIn Connected Learning over the past seven school days, we have been exploring the link between our place (country, province, district, town, school...), our journey (born here, moved here, migrated here...) and our identity as individuals and as a group. The learning is multi-disciplinary, involving elements of Social Sciences, Health, Mathematics, Science and English.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="299" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iCP1DElVNMJ0Xd3dTmjHuniT7aVQzRkFl3pxpbzuAXQ/embed?start=false&amp;loop=true&amp;delayms=5000" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="480"></iframe></div><br />We provided a task that looked at two narratives behind the formation of Kā Tiritiri o te Moana (the Southern Alps). Kā Tiritiri o te Moana are at the boundary of our place, the Selwyn District. They are a major part of our place when we look further out to Waitaha (Canterbury), Te Waipounanu/Te Waka o Aoraki (the South Island), and Aotearoa (New Zealand).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe height="500" src="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MpiZgUEzehcp3OqeY7-5Sf1Wz1eZFlnjTaRxevTSj7U/pub?embedded=true" width="480"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Ākonga did a very good job of summarising the two narratives into sequences that made it easy for the reader to see the flow of the key events. However, the evaluation of the importance of &nbsp;the two very different narratives was lost on most of them. In many cases, it was a bridge too far, and nothing was written (although time could have been a factor in this as well).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For many, they were happy to express an opinion about which was more relevant now - still fresh in many of their minds are the earthquakes we experience, that can be explained by the Plate Tectonic Theory but ākonga could not immediately see any link to the Ngāi Tahu narrative for these.<br /><br />Despite ākonga generally not taking this as "deep" as I would have liked, I really enjoyed guiding them through the learning of these two narratives. I enjoyed the conversations and had to remind myself that these were only 12 and 13 year old students. I am enjoying giving feedback and advice when reviewing their responses. I always feel like ākonga have been offered a good learning opportunity when I enjoy reading and marking their work from the task.<br /><br />When I reflect on this session, my main point to change would be the time allowance. We have 100 minute learning blocks, and this could easily have taken an entire block, particularly with the amazing human resources we have - 3-4 kaiako for 60 ākonga per block.<br /><br />I would also consider altering the bullet-points used to guide them with their evaluation. I think challenging them about which story had more meaning for them, personally, might have led to even more interesting responses. Still, not too bad for their second piece of work in Connected Learning.</div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-12584105039426821952017-02-20T09:36:00.001+13:002017-02-20T09:36:40.800+13:00But I Don't Have Anything to Read...This is a bit of a follow-up post on <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/rolleston-reads.html" target="_blank">Rolleston Reads</a>. Today, I my Ako group decided they wanted to read today and Wednsday this week. Great idea...except that I left my book at home. So did one of the students. Two ākonga without a book. Hmmm...what to do?<br /><br />The process of Rolleston Reads is my saving grace for this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1ec7bf5c-5811-5c76-bc0d-04ccda225cba"><img alt="Untitled Diagram.png" height="230" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/NtRpi-E3hOCsIceoF98I4TuRVX1ZpGd7MsMMDNkruMdM4teiyc9nhdwkjlLphiYRHRdaw_gqSLrJ0IrYwAA-59OSSDOnx4iYRDrbuecXfXaskV_niqdtrJC6H5YcheCgquyqwp9Q2O0" width="400" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>Because most of us have already done some reading, we do not all need to be in that step of the process. The student who left his book at home has done some non-digital reflection in his notebook. I have done some blogging (okay, not about my book, but about Rolleston Reads itself, instead).</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>As I type, I see that another student has moved from finishing her book to starting her blog post about her reading. Another is making notes about her book as she reads. Everyone else is so engrossed in theire respective book that I dare not stop them yet!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span>The process behind Rolleston Reads does more than just tell a student the answer to "What next?", it also tells all ākonga (me included) what we could do instead, if we have not come prepared for this session of Rolleston Reads. Simple, but effective.</span></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-47419912438291937582017-02-16T17:49:00.000+13:002017-03-13T20:16:11.066+13:00Prove It!Last year, none of my Selected options had enough enrolments for the courses to run in Term One, 2017. Instead, I was asked if I wanted to take a class of "Proof", a course about forensic science and New Zealand law. Fortunately for me, and sadly for two other staff members who did the original course design and brief, there was a timetable clash which meant I was being offered the chance to lead one of the two classes of Proof.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IMI2mlGBI-0/WKUkISFk0rI/AAAAAAAAEow/mmIRkt-8r0ISSUmI41KaumbchBXvUpQ6wCK4B/s1600/Proof.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IMI2mlGBI-0/WKUkISFk0rI/AAAAAAAAEow/mmIRkt-8r0ISSUmI41KaumbchBXvUpQ6wCK4B/s400/Proof.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0MfuA9b2QG4/WKUtqUN1k8I/AAAAAAAAEpA/eVdpsfKzhWsICPXix_rOVXZoSLabJ7yygCK4B/s1600/Interviews.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0MfuA9b2QG4/WKUtqUN1k8I/AAAAAAAAEpA/eVdpsfKzhWsICPXix_rOVXZoSLabJ7yygCK4B/s200/Interviews.PNG" width="200" /></a>A lot of planning went into getting this course ready and making it feel authentic, including writing a script for the first crime scene, setting up a crime scene, and preparing the evidence for the students to use. Some amazing colleagues gave up their own time to help with staged interviews, to plant evidence leading to them as suspects, and even to pop into class to be grilled by the students.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today was my first 100 minute block, and all of the effort was worth it. I can honestly say that was one of the most invigourating, enjoyable "lessons" that I have ever "taught". Not only were the students engaged, they were challenged and having <u>fun</u>. Word must have got out, because we had a lot of visitors during the lesson...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ERrZn1F1X4M/WKUt5KpJCnI/AAAAAAAAEpI/dw6NWmT7OooZIp0pbllQEW97Wgd_Eu_1QCK4B/s1600/Dossier.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ERrZn1F1X4M/WKUt5KpJCnI/AAAAAAAAEpI/dw6NWmT7OooZIp0pbllQEW97Wgd_Eu_1QCK4B/s200/Dossier.PNG" width="200" /></a>It was a huge relief to see that our crime and available evidence is not too easy to solve. They may only be Year 9, but these students have already exceeded my expectations in other things in the first few weeks. Luckily, we have written in enough stumbling blocks and misdirection to keep them engaged, entertained and driven to succeed. They have been asking questions that I never considered when writing the script. Overachievers!!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We are very lucky. This is a Selected course, so students opt into it. We also have two uninterrupted 100 minute blocks on subsequent days (Monday and Tuesday for one class, and Thursday and Friday for my class). We have a small roll in a big school, so can close off a lab to set up as a crime scene. Only the last of those things will change in the future, and it is definitely not an insurmountable barrier.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>I am buzzing at the moment, more than I ever have after a lesson in 17 years of teaching. I am genuinely excited about what lies ahead in Proof...<br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The grand plan goes something like this for "Proof 1.0":</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Week One:</b> Use evidence to solve a crime scene - Crime Scene #1. The evidence has been collected for you and suspects interviewed. Now use this information and your own observations to create a timeline and deduce "whodunit".</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Week Two:</b>&nbsp;Reflect on Crime Scene #1. What went well? What did not? Reveal the true story and reflect on our own conclusions and assumptions.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Week Three:</b>&nbsp;Learn about some forensic and other crime-solving techniques via online games. Students will decide which skills they want to become experts in. We will seek out experts (and do some actual teaching and experiments, of course) to help students become competent at, for example, collecting and analysing fingerprints, or interviewing suspects, or collecting and analysing fibres. The students decide, we guide them to those who can help...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Weeks Four-Six:</b>&nbsp;Learning skills and proving competence and/or proficiency in these skills. During this time, I will be writing Crime Scene #2, based upon the skills the students have elected to learn.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Week Seven:</b>&nbsp;Crime Scene #2</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Week Eight: </b>Reflect upon Crime Scene #2. The class then plan and set up Crime Scene #3. This may be a Murder Mystery evening for teachers, parents and/or friends. It may be something completely different. The students get to choose how to celebrate the amazing learning they have achieved.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i><i>Author's Note: Since writing this, there has been a change to the plan. More time has been needed for the exploring of key ideas, such as eyewitness testimony, which has put things back a bit. I am now co-writing Crime Scene #2 with one of the learners, and this will be the foundation of the Celebration of all ākonga learning. It may still be something we set up for friends, kaiako and/or whānau, but time constraints have forced a small change to the plan laid out here. M</i><br /><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8gvsUE-OLg/WKUuDwFT_5I/AAAAAAAAEpQ/u4YsTOlPQOYmg_SnDU_A7z_-YIKfWpQpACK4B/s1600/Proof%2BBrief.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H8gvsUE-OLg/WKUuDwFT_5I/AAAAAAAAEpQ/u4YsTOlPQOYmg_SnDU_A7z_-YIKfWpQpACK4B/s320/Proof%2BBrief.PNG" width="320" /></a>We will be offering learning experiences beyond the obvious scientific observation and analytical skills. "Proving" is tougher than "knowing". Writing convincing arguments. Articulating convincing points of views. Weighing up the value of evidence. Formulating questions for interrogations. Using evidence to catch people out on a lie. Teamwork. Resilience (there <i>will</i>&nbsp;be deception in Crime Scene #2, so students <i>will</i>&nbsp;get frustrated). Science. English. Social Sciences.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then, we are looking at where we go from here: Proof 2.0. What will the next level of course look like? When will it be offered? Just for Year 10? For any student from any year level who has completed Proof 1.0? Will the timetable allow for that? Should it? Will Proof 2.0 provide opportunities for students to earn NCEA credits? Should it?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is what teaching can be like. This is what learning can be like. And I get to do it all again tomorrow...</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-78291417589694396692017-02-14T18:16:00.001+13:002017-02-21T20:50:52.321+13:00Rolleston ReadsPart of Ako time at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata involves "Rolleston Reads". We read for 30 minutes with our students. Not very ground-breaking, is it? However, this is a big deal for me. I do not read enough. This is going to make me read more.<br /><br />The other part that I like about Rolleston Reads is the processes we are instilling in the ākonga, and ourselves:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7ebeafa1-3af2-5a7b-4d6a-e2ef8d37764f"><img alt="Untitled Diagram.png" height="225" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/lT_Fz7YIybzupSrh1ejH15mwaLZVE8qW3n3bgeOBdYypqSYQbbyDQ86ka5EA0_yVTYnWtYFcL30ahWglTkkvK2IipRh_4DtOiSkwHg2b2RDitEFS-mifRlI0cd917joVDgdKFMok5rE" width="400" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today, we got reading. Today, we set up a blog. Today, we made some notes in our notebooks (on paper, not digital) about what we were reading. Once we have finished a book, we aim to write something about it, no matter how much or how little.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today, every ākonga wrote something small about why they read. It is only fair that I model this practice here:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Why I Read</span></h3><div>Ever since my eyesight started to deteriorate (in my early 20s), I have been a reluctant reader. I had a couple of favourite authors, such as Tom Clancy and Michael Crichton. Other than that, I only read non-fiction. I read for information, not for relaxation or pleasure. I want that to change. I still want to read non-fiction and have three books "on the go" at the moment. But I want to read for pleasure again <i>as well</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kFnChycqWOU/WKKQALSIvlI/AAAAAAAAEoM/EauUrkFCSW4z4LTdLsxosVpff-4OEcppACK4B/s1600/d95b5967a878259768927d399b0f391a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kFnChycqWOU/WKKQALSIvlI/AAAAAAAAEoM/EauUrkFCSW4z4LTdLsxosVpff-4OEcppACK4B/s320/d95b5967a878259768927d399b0f391a.jpg" width="212" /></a>I am starting off with something easy. I am a huge fan of the discontinued series, <i>Firefly</i>. There are now some graphic novels to complement the television series. I have bought the first three of these and am starting to "digest" them. I love them. I can "hear" the actor's voices in my head when I read their respective characters' dialogue.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, I finished reading <i>Better Days and Other Stories</i>. I learned more about River and Book and was left wondering what happened to Wash after the TV series.</div><div><br /></div><div>A story where River calmly returns after killing a group of scoundrels gave me a quietening insight into her character, and Shepherd Book's. River proclaimed to Book that it was easy...then commented that he has found it easy as well, hasn't he? I can't wait to read <i>The Shepherd's Tale</i>&nbsp;to get more insight into Book's past!</div><div><br /></div><div>The story told through the recollections of past shipmates of Wash was difficult to read, simply because I wondered about the reason for their reunion. The ending was ambiguous but still left me thinking that Wash has died, but not until after Zoe had become pregnant. The final scene shows a very pregnant Zoe proclaiming that Wash's daughter will also be a helluva pilot...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xU4mDxAfwlE/WKKPlfpNwCI/AAAAAAAAEn8/njixnb5D3c0ueg09vg0rg8KTgV1hPMwdQCK4B/s1600/DH18741lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xU4mDxAfwlE/WKKPlfpNwCI/AAAAAAAAEn8/njixnb5D3c0ueg09vg0rg8KTgV1hPMwdQCK4B/s320/DH18741lg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>These stories keep me hooked on the <i>Firefly </i>and <i>Serenity</i>&nbsp;franchise, despite their demise as a television series. Who knows, maybe Fox (or some other channel) might reboot <i>Firefly</i>. It seems to be the vogue thing to do these days... Shiny!!</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-19922600141599689522017-01-19T11:27:00.000+13:002017-02-17T07:03:14.427+13:00Going Solo in a Collaborative World<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ">Yeah, I admit it: that was a catchy title to grab your attention! This is about my views on SOLO Taxonomy, my new role at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata, and what I hope to learn from this role.&nbsp;</span>At the end of last year, I was appointed to a role supporting the implementation of SOLO Taxonomy into the teaching and learning in the College.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"></span><br /><h2><span lang="mi-NZ"><span style="color: #134f5c;">WHAT IS SOLO TAXONOMY?</span></span></h2><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div><span lang="mi-NZ">SOLO is an acronym for “Structure of Observed Laerning Outcomes”. In New Zealand, </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">PamHook</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> is the guru of implementation of SOLO Taxonomy into schools.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pu9PqjKgGPo/WH_Dbs-cIGI/AAAAAAAAEmg/eMSiUb7zX4AmmS-spxF85DhG7PKg0LgCgCK4B/s1600/compare%2Band%2Bcontrast.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pu9PqjKgGPo/WH_Dbs-cIGI/AAAAAAAAEmg/eMSiUb7zX4AmmS-spxF85DhG7PKg0LgCgCK4B/s320/compare%2Band%2Bcontrast.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A SOLO HOTMap (graphic organiser).<br />To get full access to these, contact <a href="http://pamhook.com/" target="_blank">Pam Hook</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ">At my last school, I was very fortunate to have been exposed to SOLO Taxonomy from Day One. Pam led Professional Learning during a Teacher-Only Day, and provided ongoing support. I was impressed with the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/HOT-SOLOTaxonomyPoster_Verbs.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">common language</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> (much like any other taxonomy that I had been exposed to beforehand) and the graphic organisers for helping students get started – you do need to sign up with Pam to get access to these. I thought the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/HOT-SOLOTaxonomyPoster.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">symbols</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ"> were a bit abstract at first, but I now “get” them. I was overwhelmed by the </span><a href="http://pamhook.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/SOLO-Functioning-Knowledge-Rubric-Template.pdf" target="_blank"><span lang="mi-NZ">rubrics</span></a><span lang="mi-NZ">, but saw the huge value in helping students be explicitly aware of what was required from them to have deeper knowledge and/or understanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><h2><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"><span style="color: #134f5c;">MY INTRODUCTION TO SOLO TAXONOMY</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></h2></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span><span lang="mi-NZ">As the “new kid on the block”, I was more than happy to adopt SOLO Taxonomy. This was what the school saw value in and I had applied for the job because I had the utmost respect for this school. Pam had made it very clear that you didn’t need to be an expert to try using it. She recommended starting something eay, like using SOLO verbs in our lesson Specific Learning Outcomes, first. As I was already in the habit of writing these on the board at the start of every lesson, this was a natural place to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ">I was also a strong believer in providing students with graphic organisers to help them get started with work, and to offer some guidance for how “deeply” they should aim to take the task. Therefore, I took it a step further than what Pam suggested and started using the graphic organisers as well. That meant I had, by default, created a requirement to give feedback in terms of the SOLO Taxonomy. The symbols and terms (prestructural, unistructural etc.) had to be adopted and visible in my classroom.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ">Communication with students and parents was needed to explain what these meant. I nailed the first part, but failed in the second. The school did a very good job at providing information for parents, so I presumed I just had to report progress in terms of SOLO. Not quite. More explicit explanation from me, the classroom teacher, was needed. The classroom time I invested into teaching the students about what SOLO meant for them and their learning did need to be replicated for their parents. I fell short on that front.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ">The next time Pam visited our school, I was asked to go to the TV Studio to be filmed talking about SOLO in my practice and in my specialist subject, Science. It was still early days for me, but a lot of this still holds true:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="mi-NZ"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4xhaGDiqZWM" width="560"></iframe></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;">One of the key things I found with implementing SOLO Taxonomy was that it was being used across multiple Learning Areas, particularly Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences and Health/Physical Education. At Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata, this needs to be a consideration. However, as our teaching and learning is, by its very nature, going to be multi-discipline, this should not be difficult to implement, monitor and maintain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="mi-NZ" style="color: windowtext;"><br /></span></span></div><h2><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #134f5c;">SOLO TAXONOMY IN MY TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT</span><o:p></o:p></div></h2><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In 2011, our Science Department had started to move from SOLO use only in class and homework tasks to being <i>the </i>way we would report student progress and achievement. We redesigned our assessments to include SOLO verbs, graphic organisers to help students plan and start their answers, and rubrics for marking and providing feedback for “next steps”. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">By 2012, our Year 9 and 10 exams had strong SOLO elements in them, which correlated well with the work done in classrooms, and allowed students to express their thinking better. We kept things like multiple-choice, short answer and graphing in our tests and exams, as these could explicitly assess content knowledge and critical scientific skills. With the advantage of hindsight, I feel that we undervalued the SOLO-centred tasks, giving more relative weighting to the content knowledge in the exams. If I could do that again, I would not change the format of the tests and exams, but would place a lot more value on the tasks assessed using SOLO Taxonomy.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ILLbeAnUouQ/WH_cVjJrU7I/AAAAAAAAEmw/r-tW8v3iaL0XDG9lfXCDZt8BkH3NUIjAACK4B/s1600/HOTSOLOVisualRubric-Describe_450.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ILLbeAnUouQ/WH_cVjJrU7I/AAAAAAAAEmw/r-tW8v3iaL0XDG9lfXCDZt8BkH3NUIjAACK4B/s320/HOTSOLOVisualRubric-Describe_450.png" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Visual Rubric<br />SOURCE:&nbsp;<a href="http://pamhook.com/2016/08/27/essence-of-wet-dog-thinking/" target="_blank">http://pamhook.com/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">One of the best things about the work in our department in 2012 was the use of <a href="http://pamhook.com/2016/08/27/essence-of-wet-dog-thinking/" target="_blank">visual rubrics</a>. They made it much easier to make judgments about student work and provide quick feedback for the students’ “next steps”. As a department, we also put together more detail rubrics for marking. These were very similar to what we see NZQA produce for marking NCEA assessments. Students could be given either (or both) of these rubrics to help them understand the level of thinking they had communicated, and to see what would be needed to show deeper thinking in the future. I do not think I used the visual rubrics nearly as often as I should have, and will look into using them more in feedback and learning discussions in the future.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">By 2013, SOLO Taxonomy was being used by me in all of my classes, not just in Years 9 and 10. I was so fluent in the use of SOLO with Years 9 and 10 that I wrote a <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/flying-solo.html" target="_blank">reflection</a>on why it worked so well for me and for my students. In Years 11-13, students were more interested in the NCEA Achievement grades. Therefore, SOLO was used for learning and feedback related to specific tasks, while the NCEA grades were used as judgments for assessed work, such as past exam questions or practice internal assessments. Most homework tasks were the latter, while most in-class tasks were the former.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8rAqQQKdao/WH_c42UHT8I/AAAAAAAAEm4/GwMJkThSrFwV5EHBKTZBk6wE5QjAYI2fwCK4B/s1600/WIN_20140812_110655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8rAqQQKdao/WH_c42UHT8I/AAAAAAAAEm4/GwMJkThSrFwV5EHBKTZBk6wE5QjAYI2fwCK4B/s320/WIN_20140812_110655.JPG" width="320" /></a>2013 was the year that I was introduced to SOLO Hexagons. I saw these as a vehicle for making the learning more student-centred. I had already <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/student-driven-unit-planning.html" target="_blank">tried to make the learning more student-centred with my senior Chemistry classes in2013</a>, with <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/student-directed-unit-planning-update.html">mixed success</a>. It was an engaging way for students to learn and gave them ownership. It lacked a way to show the relationship <i>between</i> concepts. I felt that hexagons might be a way for students to visually and explicitly create those links. <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/exploring-organic-chemistry-with-solo.html" target="_blank">In 2014, I tried again</a>, this time with hexagons in my kete. I do not think we fully exploited the potential of using the hexagons, but it was a start. I had <a href="https://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/09/solo-hexagons-reflection.html" target="_blank">a few ideas after reflecting</a> on this second attempt.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">In 2015 and 2016, some of those ideas had really come to fruition, particularly in Year 12 and Year 13 Organic Chemistry. We also used SOLO-driven tasks for the learning of Spectroscopy, and Atomic Structure and Periodicity. However, time pressures did limit the amount we could actually explore the concepts in class. Many of the gamification ideas were left with the students to take or leave. They proved useful revision tools in class. The “Hexagon Challenges” were something we only had time for once or twice within the unit. That was a shame, as I am interested to see whether this reinforcement would have a positive influence on the students making links between the key concepts.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h2><span style="color: #134f5c;">COLLABORATIVELY SOLO</span></h2><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">I am excited about my role in implementing SOLO at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata in 2017. There are a few elements that really “float my boat” about this opportunity:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><li>Cross-Curricular use of SOLO</li><li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Supporting other staff</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">“Leading from behind”</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Reflection</span></li></ul><br /><div class="MsoNormal">The very nature of how learning is structured at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata means that SOLO will be utilised across different Learning Areas. I envisage that we will need to find and/or develop tasks, rubrics etc. that measure student success in dispositions that transition different Learning Areas. Conversely, I expect that there will need to be success criteria specific to each Learning Area within each topic, or even within each task.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I see this as an excellent opportunity for me to learn about other learning areas while supporting other teachers’ needs in developing success criteria, tasks, rubrics etc. What will be measured? How will it be measured? How will this be reported? Each Learning Area has its only peculiarities. Which ones are critical in the success criteria for each task?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I see my role as one of supporting other staff to upskill in SOLO, while also looking at how SOLO might satisfy their needs or complement their current practice. From our time together in Term Four 2016, it is clear that we are not only a very collegial group, but we are well on the road to being a strongly collaborative team. This has made me think seriously about how I want to “lead” the implementation of SOLO in the College.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">So often, when asked to “lead” something in the past, I have looked to drive it as an “expert”, taking others on a predetermined journey. From this point forwards, I found it easier to support individual needs. Interestingly, it was often how I taught my students as well… I expect that things will be much different in this role at Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata. The idea of “<a href="https://hbr.org/2010/05/leading-from-behind" target="_blank">Leading from Behind</a>” is one that I really want to experience, and I hope that this role will be more in this mould.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At Rolleston College Horoeka Haemata, Learning Leaders are currently synonymous to Heads of Department at most other New Zealand Secondary Schools. Serving and supporting their needs is critical in leading the implementation of SOLO Taxonomy, in my opinion. Rather than directing Learning Leaders in how they should be incorporating and implementing SOLO, I expect that I will be doing a lot of listening and asking many questions. <i>How</i> can SOLO help with that problem? <i>How</i> can SOLO help measure that? <i>How</i>can SOLO support student learning in this? I wonder if I will need to be the point of contact for parents who need clarification of “this SOLO thing”. If I do a good job, I expect that this would not be the case in the future, though…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In my reflections of using SOLO Taxonomy in the past, one of the big questions was why it lost traction in the NCEA years with so many colleagues and with students. Was it just a change in focus, or was it less relevant beyond Year 10? Did we SOLO-assess too often? Were the correlations between SOLO (for learning) and NCEA grades (for assessment) not made clear enough?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">If, despite a staff that are “sold” on SOLO, we see a similar lack of traction at my current school, it will be critical to ask why. I see this reflection (and the potential for teaching inquiry around this) to be the bases of this role if it continues beyond 2017, along with continued support for colleagues, particularly new staff. For now, though, let’s get started in leading the implementation of SOLO in a highly collaborative workplace. I am looking forward to a role in which I will learn a lot, while also getting to apply my experience to new challenges and opportunities.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-15404879353701050692016-11-03T11:11:00.000+13:002016-11-03T20:31:16.544+13:00A Chance to Read<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BklQtAm4qqE/WBpkLX1aT6I/AAAAAAAAEjE/5-UVyurHhoElTOkTy8tdYJSUmma9Usr0gCK4B/s1600/4408703896_d83d8a9b05_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BklQtAm4qqE/WBpkLX1aT6I/AAAAAAAAEjE/5-UVyurHhoElTOkTy8tdYJSUmma9Usr0gCK4B/s200/4408703896_d83d8a9b05_z.jpg" width="135" /></a>Today's first task suited me in more than one way. We had to "read" something, and we had to write a blog post. I use quotation marks because every "reading" option was a video being read out to us. That was useful for me because I am a really slow reader!! As for being given time to write a blog post, well...<br /><br />The given options were:<br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U"><span style="color: #0097a7;">Ken Robinson - Changing Paradigms</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2010/04/rsa-animate---drive"><span style="color: #0097a7;">Daniel Pink - Drive - Motivation</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2010/05/rsa-animate---the-empathic-civilisation"><span style="color: #0097a7;">Jeremy Rifkin - The Empathic Civilization</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><a href="https://www.thersa.org/discover/videos/rsa-animate/2010/09/rsa-animate---21st-century-enlightenment" style="font-size: 12pt;">Matthew Taylor - 21st Century Enlightenment</a><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal">I chose to "read" Daniel Pink, primarily because I intend to start properly reading his book over the summer holidays. I bought it for my Kindle, so I have made that commitment to myself already.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u6XAPnuFjJc" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I liked the idea that,&nbsp;<i>provided you take money out of the equation</i>, separate studies have identified a few common motivators:</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><ul><li>autonomy (give me the space and time to do things my own way)</li><li>mastery (I want to get better at this)</li><li>purpose (this is meaningful to me, my family, my society, my planet...)</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nIdqdJbfeT0/WBpjB_qWejI/AAAAAAAAEiw/ovcsvoG_UjEokyxSNrcVWay56UfdM2EGQCK4B/s1600/6355351769_766503f534_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nIdqdJbfeT0/WBpjB_qWejI/AAAAAAAAEiw/ovcsvoG_UjEokyxSNrcVWay56UfdM2EGQCK4B/s200/6355351769_766503f534_b.jpg" width="200" /></a>These resonate with me. I do find that these are my primary motivators. What a pity, though: I thought I was special!! I also find that when I am under financial pressure, these are not necessarily my key motivators and drivers. Money definitely needs to be taken out of the equation... I wonder how much money individuals need to take the issue of money off the table. I wonder how governments and businesses can afford this amount of money to everyone. I wonder how they cannot!</div><div><br /></div><div>I like that these findings are claimed to be based upon evidence. I hope only two examples are expanded upon to maintain the flow of the argument, not because the others were flawed or contrary. I wonder about some of the details of the investigations. What data was collected? How was this data collected? What were the tasks being employed to measure the impact of monetary motivation?<br /><br />Now for some more reading...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-86307984646548882772016-11-02T15:50:00.000+13:002016-11-03T08:22:43.336+13:00My New Tools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CyzkJVfOoAc/WBlLYfBulDI/AAAAAAAAEhc/zjQrrC_-U1A12StZUlMkFY5jhftJCEoAgCK4B/s1600/tools-191794_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CyzkJVfOoAc/WBlLYfBulDI/AAAAAAAAEhc/zjQrrC_-U1A12StZUlMkFY5jhftJCEoAgCK4B/s320/tools-191794_960_720.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The tasks we have been set in our first few weeks at Rolleston College/Horoeaka Haemata have had the side effect of adding some new tools to my kit. Hopefully the learning at our school next year will provide the opportunities and time for this same growth for students, and for me!<br /><br /><br /><div><h4>1. CONVERT POWERPOINT AND/OR PUBLISHER TO IMAGE</h4><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGIbeIfk7JE/WBlThpc6sOI/AAAAAAAAEiQ/DEJiH8xB-P0OF7DUbitU1A9ZBzg0ZX5bwCK4B/s1600/Microsoft_PowerPoint_2013_logo.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGIbeIfk7JE/WBlThpc6sOI/AAAAAAAAEiQ/DEJiH8xB-P0OF7DUbitU1A9ZBzg0ZX5bwCK4B/s200/Microsoft_PowerPoint_2013_logo.svg.png" width="200" /></a>While I was using MovieMaker (don't judge - it was what I had at my disposal) to create video records of our work, I needed ways to make static images. I also had some fun with the built-in features of MovieMaker to pan across, or zoom in/out of the static images. I also found the need to make composite images for my work in Canva.</div></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jg8AjscXmlc/WBlTlPVj0yI/AAAAAAAAEiY/7dtMScuRaBsM0vQKPtzgIJ3v61ii71-zgCK4B/s1600/Microsoft_Publisher-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jg8AjscXmlc/WBlTlPVj0yI/AAAAAAAAEiY/7dtMScuRaBsM0vQKPtzgIJ3v61ii71-zgCK4B/s200/Microsoft_Publisher-Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div><div>I had forgotten that you can do your work in PowerPoint or Publisher (horses for courses, or personal preference), then save them as JPEGs or PNGs, which can be used in MovieMaker and any other apps/programmes that require images, such as Canva and ThingLink (I am still learning to play with ThingLink, but it looks useful).</div><div><br /></div><div>I liked using PowerPoint better, because I could create a series of slides (a presentation, if you will), then turn all of these into separate images in a folder. That made inserting them into a movie project very easy.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wh16Y1WNSaA/WBlT58LfBUI/AAAAAAAAEig/ZZX_lRPEOsg-_feAVepF3yiVSAk5Mq0uQCK4B/s1600/Robots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wh16Y1WNSaA/WBlT58LfBUI/AAAAAAAAEig/ZZX_lRPEOsg-_feAVepF3yiVSAk5Mq0uQCK4B/s320/Robots.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h4><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AE5stRH-SeA/WBlLk5tC3OI/AAAAAAAAEhk/hAMAJ6DUelIB-1Raq0gs64jDabfmitXKQCK4B/s1600/Canva_Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AE5stRH-SeA/WBlLk5tC3OI/AAAAAAAAEhk/hAMAJ6DUelIB-1Raq0gs64jDabfmitXKQCK4B/s200/Canva_Logo.png" width="200" /></a>2. CANVA</h4><div>We were trying to put together an AppSmash into a digital, interactive poster. Canva was a really useful tool for collating the work every team member did, and to present it in a visually-pleasing way.</div><div><br /></div><div>We could embed links to slides, videos, audio files and images in our Google Drives, and to YouTube.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since learning to use this, I have also used it to make a collage of ideas that were sparked in an activity earlier today.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/rollestoncollege.nz/file/d/0B3GCfLSIWmIWc1l3dEpSUzV2MEk/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMRroTO3H10/WBlOGNYuYtI/AAAAAAAAEhw/BYWVhQIu4UkdrQr4zGPr7d3aclY8k4lCQCK4B/s320/Spirit%2BChallenge%2BPoster.PNG" width="320" /></a><span id="goog_1222324988"></span><span id="goog_1222324989"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/a/rollestoncollege.nz/file/d/0B3GCfLSIWmIWcHRlUkNxRkU2ZG8/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4L_ZUPZjvQo/WBlON91uGkI/AAAAAAAAEh4/0Y65MEakyDsiRzqlwt6b8Tv_hJpZqm1fACK4B/s400/Robots%2BSustain%2BPoster.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><h4><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxKCMb2-oog/WBlSCBMYNkI/AAAAAAAAEiE/UPnAFpDXwiY6Lsrxjph5EQ89mCGIMUQawCK4B/s1600/Sites.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JxKCMb2-oog/WBlSCBMYNkI/AAAAAAAAEiE/UPnAFpDXwiY6Lsrxjph5EQ89mCGIMUQawCK4B/s320/Sites.PNG" width="320" /></a>3. GOOGLE SITES</h4><div>I have never played with Sites, although we did need to upload work of ours, and links to some of our work (such as our blogs) into a shared Site. There was a need, so I learned...</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Then, we were given time to create our own site, to get a feeling for the kinds of things we <i>might</i>&nbsp;be getting ākonga to do. Sites seem a bit clunky for now, but apparently there are some exciting ("pretty") changes ahead. It seems to be a good way to store an electronic portfolio. It was easy to get started, too...</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-62380100589765131472016-10-23T11:05:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:21:47.504+13:00A School with No Students...Yet<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BjRlLhLMWUI/WAvij8GB2KI/AAAAAAAAEgs/lj0P5M3WyL4Ctj-LdbSoWYbTsbOSxkUEwCK4B/s1600/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BjRlLhLMWUI/WAvij8GB2KI/AAAAAAAAEgs/lj0P5M3WyL4Ctj-LdbSoWYbTsbOSxkUEwCK4B/s200/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" width="197" /></a>Two weeks have passed at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. Two weeks working at a school with no students and hosted by another school (West Rolleston Primary School/Te Kura o Te Uru Kōwhai). It sounds a bit like a dream, doesn't it? All this time and space to...well, to do what?<br /><br />I am relieved for the long weekend, because a lack of students has definitely not meant a lack of tasks to achieve or an "easy ride". It is just a different kind of busy. I have always fed off the energy and enthusiasm of students, so that driving force is actually missing. However, it has been replaced by highly enthused colleagues, and lots and lots of coffee!<br /><br />The way our first two weeks have been structured has actually made me reflect a lot on what it must be like for students/ākonga. We had the excitement of the first few days, and getting to know each other and our place (including elements of the community). Friendships and working relationships have started to form. The expectations of those leading the learning have started to become more transparent. The learning tasks have been rich and every one of us has put in a genuine effort to complete each task to a high level.<br /><br />The richness and relevance of the tasks (as well as the realistic time frames) have ensured high levels of engagement and that we actually <i>want</i>&nbsp;to work on them outside the allocated time allowed each day. We are not being <i>made</i>&nbsp;to do "homework", but we are <i>choosing</i>&nbsp;to do it anyway. Add into that the fact that most tasks are collaborative and each individual is striving not to let the rest of the group down. It is a great learning environment. It is fun, rewarding and a bit tiring being ākonga!!<br /><br />As a teacher/kaiako, non-contact time is often used to mark student work, plan future lessons/tasks/units or maybe organise some extra-/co-curricular activity. It definitely isn't downtime. At Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata, we are given some individual learning time. Some of us collaborate on the tasks we have due this week. Some of us retreat into a corner to read, reflect or work on our own. Some of us need the time out and throw a rugby ball around, talk over coffee or kick a shuttlecock around.<br /><br />The busy schedule of the last couple of days of last week meant this individual time was not available, and it was missed. Some of us did early starts to collaborate on our big learning task. Others did late finishes for the same reason. What I have learned from this is the value of "downtime", both for kaiako and for ākonga. Our students need time to reflect or even get active in the day. As teachers, we also need that time to do what is best for us.<br /><br />The other standout from the past two weeks has been how flexible the daily programme has been. The leadership team must have a timeline and agenda, and it feels like we are making good progress. However, tasks and schedules have been adjusted in response to our needs as learners on a day-by-day basis. This makes me feel as though my needs and well-being/hauora are valued. This makes it very easy to get up in the morning and be excited about going to work. I hope ākonga will feel the same when we start working with them.<br /><br />While we have not been treated like students in the first two weeks, I feel that we have learned a more immediate empathy and understanding for what it is like to be one. For a group of motivated ākonga/kaiako, engagement and quality of work are maintained at a high level through:<br /><br /><ul><li>authentic tasks</li><li>tasks that are meaningful to the individual</li><li>collaborative tasks</li><li>realistic time frames</li></ul><div>Additionally, the hauora of ākonga/kaiako has been accounted for in the structure of the day and the flexibility of the programme in response to us as learners. As well as managing our workload, it keeps us in a frame of mind to do our best work, and to be good collaborators. So, it is a new school with no students, but the teachers are the learners at the moment. That can only be a good thing for the students!</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-11172291922974409992016-10-18T23:51:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:18:41.025+13:00Subject Communities, not Silos…<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tMwXayk1adA/WAX8JFMCCcI/AAAAAAAAEfY/8gKiC4oFpScbpzMhhMqEns90up3pX1tZACK4B/s1600/Nautilus_fullcolour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tMwXayk1adA/WAX8JFMCCcI/AAAAAAAAEfY/8gKiC4oFpScbpzMhhMqEns90up3pX1tZACK4B/s200/Nautilus_fullcolour.jpg" width="200" /></a>During the week, two of our tasks involved the unpacking of two Learning Areas from the New Zealand Curriculum: one given to us (<i>not</i> one we strongly identified with – unfamiliar text, you might say…); and the one we most strongly identified with. For me, this meant the first task was to try and unpack Health and Physical Education and to present what I thought to others, one of whom was actually an HPE specialist! For the second task, I worked with another Science specialist to unpack this Learning Area, and present the key elements (and “non-negotiables”) to all other staff.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUtPVSalBUI/WAX8jqtEFjI/AAAAAAAAEfg/B4nNVR7GO5o_yB_td9IRIvEaUsb8cespgCK4B/s1600/7040878_orig.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUtPVSalBUI/WAX8jqtEFjI/AAAAAAAAEfg/B4nNVR7GO5o_yB_td9IRIvEaUsb8cespgCK4B/s400/7040878_orig.png" width="390" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Os0JSJ-EEU/WAX7r_bdUqI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/nnFb_R_nRt4rS7OsfdSd6mq1ua56NqXjgCK4B/s1600/community.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Os0JSJ-EEU/WAX7r_bdUqI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/nnFb_R_nRt4rS7OsfdSd6mq1ua56NqXjgCK4B/s200/community.jpg" width="200" /></a>One of our Senior Leaders talked about how we needed to be respectful when unpacking Learning Areas that were not our own. He addressed the term “Silos” that keeps being bandied around. He explained that he preferred to think of these more as Communities. This resonated with me. These Communities are populated by people. These people have adapted to be successful in these Communities. These people know what the key elements are for being successful in their respective Community. These strengths and predispositions need to be respected when we try to communicate which elements we see as being important in our new (broader, connected) Community of Learning…<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c3WdFj-BalM/WAX7RObfJZI/AAAAAAAAEfI/NVII-rvNXF4Z6GvEzFz12gnCntp20a9UACK4B/s1600/gears-1381719_960_720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c3WdFj-BalM/WAX7RObfJZI/AAAAAAAAEfI/NVII-rvNXF4Z6GvEzFz12gnCntp20a9UACK4B/s200/gears-1381719_960_720.jpg" width="200" /></a>If we think of Silos instead, it is very easy to forget the human side of the Learning Areas. I know that I immediately think of each Silo being a different part of a machine, doing its own unique and important role, that contributes to the functioning of the machine we call Student Learning. To get those Silos (machine parts) to work together successfully takes a fair bit of coordination. It often takes students a long time to see the connections between the parts. I guess this analogy works for me as well, but it lacks the human element of Communities. I like the human element.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">What about those tasks?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><h1>Unfamiliar Learning Area</h1><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9FCuECWYywE/WAX9OEdunAI/AAAAAAAAEfs/am08PogpfrkaygSfqHnSofxHEcTOpcZmwCK4B/s1600/HPE.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9FCuECWYywE/WAX9OEdunAI/AAAAAAAAEfs/am08PogpfrkaygSfqHnSofxHEcTOpcZmwCK4B/s320/HPE.PNG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing">We were given a period of time to try and break the Learning Area down into 20 (or so) words/key points. From this, we had to break it down into only five!! When discussing multi-disciplinary learning with peers in the past, the common concern has been about the potential for “dilution” of content and key skills. This thought struck me again – only five words/key points?!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Once I started, it was surprising how easily this Learning Area unpacked. A couple of different ways to arrange the Learning Area quickly evolved for me: <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><u>Four Strands/Contexts</u><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"></div><ul><li>Personal Health and Physical Development</li><li>Movement Concepts and Motor Skill</li><li>Relationships with Other People</li><li>Healthy Communities and Environments</li></ul><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><u>Four Concepts</u></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"></div><ul><li>Hauora</li><li>Attitudes and values</li><li>The socio-ecological perspective</li><li>Health promotion</li></ul><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Ultimately, though, I felt that everything emanated from Hauora. Therefore, I felt I had my five words, so long as I showed their interdependence with arrows:</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--mwxhCxwCfc/WAX6reMv18I/AAAAAAAAEfA/ACwemIf-xOwP_xIsU_XXELytNC39oHQeQCK4B/s1600/HPE%2BDiagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--mwxhCxwCfc/WAX6reMv18I/AAAAAAAAEfA/ACwemIf-xOwP_xIsU_XXELytNC39oHQeQCK4B/s400/HPE%2BDiagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Then came the tough part. Share this with someone from the HPE Community. When I fleshed out my simple little diagram with some thoughts about context and content, this was received much better than I thought!!</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><h1>Familiar Learning Area</h1><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrNg6VQsKFI/WAX9uCQLQhI/AAAAAAAAEf0/Ya3RdOBwjQMJm10WobEbLMY2XFT5wL13wCK4B/s1600/Science.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hrNg6VQsKFI/WAX9uCQLQhI/AAAAAAAAEf0/Ya3RdOBwjQMJm10WobEbLMY2XFT5wL13wCK4B/s400/Science.PNG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mā te whakaaro nui e hanga te whare;<br />mā te mātauranga e whakaū</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The task for this seemed much easier. It was the same task but within “my” Community – Science. I worked with another member of the same Community. This should be easy, surely! Not so. Within our Community, each member seems to put different value on different elements of the Community. That is natural.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">However, what prevented this becoming a barrier was how easily these could be fleshed out. We were speaking the same language. We were able to group, classify and categorise our own ideas into bigger pictures under the “Nature of Science” umbrella. Finding five words/key concepts was, ultimately, not too tough (being familiar with <a href="http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Science/Key-concepts">TKI</a> helped a lot with this, too!!):</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"></div><ul><li><b>Evidence</b>-based</li><li>Knowledge is <b>Provisional</b></li><li>Uses <b>Models</b>and <b>Theories</b></li><li>Influenced by <b>Society</b></li></ul><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing">We then unpacked each strand (Material World, Physical World, Living World, and Planet Earth and Beyond) into a couple of key “non-negotiable” points. These were the elements we felt were non-negotiable and may not be “diluted” by involvement in multi-disciplinary learning. Student learning <i>must</i> include the key elements (content and/or skills) of Science we identified. Boiled down, we did really get it down to:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"></div><ul><li>Matter</li><li>Energy</li><li>Forces</li><li>MRS GREN</li><li>Ecosystems</li><li>Inheritance</li><li>Cycles</li></ul><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Throw in some critical thinking, and I think the key words and non-negotiables cover the nature of the Nature of Science. The excitement came from hearing how other Learning Areas were unpacked, and seeing how Science could complement each of those “Communities” without diluting either.&nbsp;</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OkAVnbnfDZk/WAX-W4Ns1uI/AAAAAAAAEf8/UBds2MhypSc73D1twRx7VdOIWb2X8ffNQCK4B/s1600/1471758387769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OkAVnbnfDZk/WAX-W4Ns1uI/AAAAAAAAEf8/UBds2MhypSc73D1twRx7VdOIWb2X8ffNQCK4B/s200/1471758387769.jpg" width="200" /></a>In fact, I can imagine how each Community (Learning Area) will be enhanced, along with the overall learning of each student, by having natives from each Community involved in each multi-disciplinary module. The NZ Police may build “Safer Communities Together”, but we will build “Stronger [Learning] Communities Together”.<br /><br /><h1>#scichatNZ</h1><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dglLgJWqFKI/WAZ0LI3LBCI/AAAAAAAAEgM/yLnKk7CI2pEwWLMer6QUcY4uOH1Mbtp_gCK4B/s1600/HM-c7rjX.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dglLgJWqFKI/WAZ0LI3LBCI/AAAAAAAAEgM/yLnKk7CI2pEwWLMer6QUcY4uOH1Mbtp_gCK4B/s200/HM-c7rjX.jpeg" width="200" /></a>In my mind, #scichatNZ exists for the growth of Science as a Community (rather as a "Silo"). Rachel, Chhaya and I are very keen to welcome "non-Scientists" into the #scichatNZ Community. This is a Community with members who have a passion for Science and Education. They "live" where these two Communities meet. Some Community members also "live" in other Communities. This enables them to bring their expertise from their experiences in these Communities into #scichatNZ chats and the #scichatNZ Community, in general.</div><div><br /></div><div>More than just preserving the subject Community (Silo?) and its special characters (skills, content, systems etc.), #scichatNZ is inviting in new members and growing from their experiences. The Community grows by having regular input and collaboration between members from different Communities who visit or also live in the #scichatNZ Community.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MZkkM8rq12A/WAZ0P_evn2I/AAAAAAAAEgU/6OEq2wBk82ghx-ZOgJJrjcWf_YgvJMyjQCK4B/s1600/fotor0813195423.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MZkkM8rq12A/WAZ0P_evn2I/AAAAAAAAEgU/6OEq2wBk82ghx-ZOgJJrjcWf_YgvJMyjQCK4B/s400/fotor0813195423.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-55398866012836442362016-10-12T22:06:00.001+13:002016-11-03T08:15:59.821+13:00Welcome to Selwyn!Today was exhausting! Yet, here I am at 9pm starting to write my second blog post for the day. It might have something to do with how invigorating the day was, despite also being very busy, full-on and requiring a <i>lot</i>&nbsp;of concentration at times.<br /><br />What was it about today that has got me buzzing so much that I am writing instead of getting a much needed early night? Today, we were sent out into the community in groups of 3-4, and challenged to find evidence of the Rolleston [College] Spirit in the Rolleston Community (11 Dispositions). Each group chose different ways to go about this and, hearing from the others, all were rewarding experiences. What ultimately came out of this for me was two-fold:<br /><br /><ol><li>I feel like I have a better understanding of more of the things that make the heart of the Rolleston community beat, and</li><li>I felt a huge sense of welcoming and excitement that we were joining the Rolleston Community and even the wider Selwyn District.</li></ol><div><br /></div><div>As soon as we introduced ourselves, the welcome mat was laid out and we were accommodated, despite not making prior arrangements to visit any of the kura, businesses or institutions that we visited. We were told at almost every place we visited how excited they felt about the opening of Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata - Rolleston's very own high school!</div><div><br /></div><div>Without exception, this morning's task had the theme of "Welcome to Rolleston; welcome to Selwyn!" The rain was never going to dampen this experience. Thank you to Andrew, Di and Murray for being part of a great team to explore Rolleston with!</div><div><br /></div><div>I would also like to comment on the task itself. We had absolute agency about where we would go and what we would try to find out when we got to each place. We were in control of how we completed our task, and our own success/failure hung on our own decisions. Regardless of whether we have found evidence for every single Disposition or not, the task was rewarding and involved great opportunities. The process has been a success even if our finished product doesn't end up feeling quite as successful. That is a win in my book...</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The remainder of this post may be a bit dry. It is a reflection of some of the specifics from the day - we have to put together a 2-4 minute presentation, so it is more for me and my team, to be honest! How we will turn 40+ minutes of interviews into 4 minutes (by Friday), I am not quite sure yet...</div><div><br /></div><h4><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X69GWWZcux4/V_31yBCubtI/AAAAAAAAEZQ/IONuD_Ryjiw7ZmQST2zL_yZU7f7BMHRmACK4B/s1600/IMG_20161012_101835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X69GWWZcux4/V_31yBCubtI/AAAAAAAAEZQ/IONuD_Ryjiw7ZmQST2zL_yZU7f7BMHRmACK4B/s200/IMG_20161012_101835.jpg" width="200" /></a>SELWYN DISTRICT COUNCIL BUILDINGS</h4><div>My team's first port of call was the Selwyn District Council buildings. The use of local stone on the building itself was our first motivation. We see this as <b>creative</b>, one of the 11 Dispositions. To me, this is also represents a connection between the land and the people.</div><div><br /></div><div>While there, we asked to talk to someone about initiatives the Selwyn District Council was currently involved in regarding sustainability and the environment. We were already confident that there would be great evidence of another Disposition, <b>be environmentally aware</b>. This was when we realised how crazy and rewarding today would be. Would we like to meet with the new mayor?&nbsp;</div><div>"Yes, please!"</div><div>"Look, Sam won't be free for another 10 minutes, so go down the hall and chat to someone there about recycling etc. They will be expecting you."</div><div><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Os6p9ExG08/V_32DLvzfXI/AAAAAAAAEZY/iH3R1dkMsiQPB01YV3k4aPVAL_IdyhXFgCK4B/s1600/1475897714657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Os6p9ExG08/V_32DLvzfXI/AAAAAAAAEZY/iH3R1dkMsiQPB01YV3k4aPVAL_IdyhXFgCK4B/s200/1475897714657.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SOURCE:&nbsp;http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/<br />85114019/david-ayers-and-sam-broughton-<br />elected-in-waimakariri-and-selwyn</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Not only did we get to talk to someone about environmental and waste issues and initiatives (who was very engaging, interesting and informative), but we also got to see the mayor on a whim. Sam Broughton has a background of working with youth and we talked about his desire to be connected to young people, their issues and their ideas. We were invited to help facilitate keeping our future students connected with Sam and the Council. A few more Dispositions: <b>inclusive</b>; <b>collaborative</b>; and&nbsp;<b>able to communicate and connect</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div><h4>I-ZONE AND TENNANT ENGINEERING LTD.</h4></div><div>Our team saw the relationships between the College and the industries/businesses of the community to be very important. Through such relationships, we imagine many aspects of the Rolleston College Spirit (the 11 Dispositions) can be realised for many akonga.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miJXjcBYR_I/V_34prmnN4I/AAAAAAAAEZo/_1wzW7r5_Po5VSkAeomBZl126DPnYp1JQCK4B/s1600/IMG_20161012_111234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miJXjcBYR_I/V_34prmnN4I/AAAAAAAAEZo/_1wzW7r5_Po5VSkAeomBZl126DPnYp1JQCK4B/s200/IMG_20161012_111234.jpg" width="200" /></a>Driving around I-Zone, the variety and scale of the industries and businesses reinforced this. From its small beginnings, this is one of the largest industrial parks in the country. There must be stories behind many of these successes, and opportunities for now and the future.</div><div><br /></div><div>We were lucky enough to be given a few minutes to speak to a floor manager at Tennant Engineering Ltd. He told us some of the qualities he would be looking for in an employee, and definitely kept the door open for opportunities for collaboration with the College and its students in the future.</div><div><br /></div><div><h4>ROLLESTON SCHOOL AND CLEARVIEW PRIMARY</h4></div><div>Again, the doors were flung open for us, and we were made to feel most welcome - not just as visitors of each school but as new members of the Rolleston education whanau. Rolleston School was the original primary school in Rolleston and has grown from 200 original students to its current roll of over 800 students.</div><div><br /></div><div>At Clearview, we talked through the meaning and background behind the school's name. The clear view to the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana made perfect sense once it was explained.</div><div><br /></div><div>At both schools, the leaders we interviewed talked with passion and excitement about the connections they envisaged between their respective schools and Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. Sport plays a big part in the lives of Rolleston residents, and this is an obvious potential link but definitely not the only one that was discussed with great enthusiasm.</div><div><br /></div><div>If only there had been more time... We wanted to visit so many more places. We wanted to see students having fun in their respecting learning environments and in their respective learning activities/opportunities. We wanted to learn more about the Maori name gifted to Clearview Primary. So much to learn, so little time...</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-72190215834416005462016-10-12T16:24:00.000+13:002016-11-03T08:14:08.418+13:00Things May Never Be the Same…<div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpNfaVPCGYg/V_2sIR187xI/AAAAAAAAEZA/7mXndQ7reFEzcYSJFwb4dZaU37mkYonXgCK4B/s1600/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpNfaVPCGYg/V_2sIR187xI/AAAAAAAAEZA/7mXndQ7reFEzcYSJFwb4dZaU37mkYonXgCK4B/s200/rolleston-college-logo-1.jpg" width="197" /></a>This week, I was one of approximately 20 staff who started their journey at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. It has been great to be surrounded by similarly-minded people, and getting to know these impressive individuals. It has also made me reflect on the changes that lie ahead for my own pedagogy and practice in general.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Over the past few years, I feel that there has been one particular strength in my practice. I am uncertain whether this strength will be a big part of my <i>modus operandi</i>here. If it is, there will need to be tweaks and adjustments…and that is exciting!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: purple;">REWIND ME</span></h4><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">One thing that I spent a lot of time implementing into my practice was to record the teaching moments of lessons, and make this available in a blog for my students. Complementing this with notes and images of the whiteboard work etc. meant there was a record of the key content and tasks available at any time for students. They could use this for revision, catching up on missed work, and/or revisiting something that didn’t “click” at the time of “delivery”.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">I suspect that this “routine” for my lessons will be much less relevant at Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata. That could be a scary prospect. Instead, I see that as an exciting change. I envisage that I may collaborate with akonga and other kaiako to make instructional records like these. They are likely to be more polished and impressive than anything that I have done in the past, too (I hope)!!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: purple;">THROW YOUR ARMS AROUND ME</span></h4><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">While I was reflecting upon this potential change, the idea that “things may never be the same” brought an old favourite song to mind. The lyrics of the chorus are quite poignant for how I have reflected upon the changes ahead – &nbsp;I may never meet my old practices and pedagogy again. I feel exposed, both my flaws and short-comings alongside my strengths and skills. That is more than okay; it helps me feel even more like part of a great team.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Additionally, the support around me – fellow “new” kaiako to Rolleston College/Horoeka Haemata, and the leadership team who have been guiding us for the past couple of days – has thrown its arms around me. I am excited about the unknown ahead, and feel secure to push my own boundaries. After all, it is to help be part of providing great learning opportunities for akonga.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">“And we may never meet again<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">So shed your skin and let's get started<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">And you will throw your arms around me<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Yeah, you will throw your arms around me”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5-hDK76bIps" width="560"></iframe></div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-1131818304085005192016-06-03T09:25:00.001+12:002016-06-03T10:50:35.224+12:00The Class vs. Nicoll - Choosing the Tougher RoadA key focus for my <i>teacher</i>&nbsp;<i>inquiry</i>&nbsp;this year has been to explore ways to develop perseverance ("grit") in my students. I have <i>taken action</i>&nbsp;in two of my classes, with mixed results.<br /><br /><h4><span style="color: purple;">LEVEL 3 CHEMISTRY</span></h4><div>In the current unit, the students were posed a series of challenges that would guide them to explore atomic structure and periodic trends, such as electronegativity and ionisation energy. These challenges were in the format of booklets, each with three scaffolded tasks and the ultimate <i>challenge</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The challenge in each booklet was beyond the requirement for Level 3, so was my "test" to see if students would explore concepts deeper, if given some direction and challenged to do so. Each booklet also contained some past NCEA questions, and completing these by certain deadlines was the minimum expectation on the students.</div><div><br /></div><div>I found that very few of my students even attempted the challenges, but every student made an honest attempt to complete the scaffolded tasks. Most students met the deadlines for the NCEA questions, but not all. I was disappointed that any students at this level of learning needed to be pushed to meet important deadlines, when they have all told me that success in the NCEA exams is their ultimate goal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was not overly surprised that few students attempted the challenges, as they were very difficult. However, having none share their thoughts on the challenges with me was a disappointing outcome. Was the work simply too challenging? Was it too boring? Does the "carrot" of NCEA assessment override intrinsic interest?</div><div><br /></div><div>There are some questions to ask the class before I try something similar in the next topic...</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCqg-pclwTc/V1CbCVsTM-I/AAAAAAAAD3w/1t9o4H6J6FEcxKDXVxYXJtvsRI2N8v4MACK4B/s1600/Rugby%2BInvestigation.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zCqg-pclwTc/V1CbCVsTM-I/AAAAAAAAD3w/1t9o4H6J6FEcxKDXVxYXJtvsRI2N8v4MACK4B/s320/Rugby%2BInvestigation.PNG" width="320" /></a><br /><h4><span style="color: purple;">LEVEL 1 PRACTICAL SCIENCE</span></h4><div>We are in the middle of learning about "Fair Testing" - developing and carrying out a procedure (method) to find a relationship. In our current context, the class are investigating the relationship between angle and distance when kicking a rugby ball from a tee. We are recording our processes and learning <a href="http://pracsci2016.blogspot.co.nz/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>My experience of <a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/rugby-kicking-investigation.html" target="_blank">doing this last year</a> led to some changes, as well as an opportunity to explore how much grit these students would have, particularly if they knew their chances of success were very low.</div><div><br /></div><div>The class actually chose this context after hearing how much fun the 2015 class had with it. I think some of the less diligent souls thought it would be a fun way to waste time, pretending to be doing something constructive. How their attitudes have changed; how happy I am with this change!</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka-NR3R38UU/V1CbdWd1IHI/AAAAAAAAD34/DxKWX_O24KcbgeZbD05rsz-w-Cdp1Y0cACK4B/s1600/WIN_20160525_101459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka-NR3R38UU/V1CbdWd1IHI/AAAAAAAAD34/DxKWX_O24KcbgeZbD05rsz-w-Cdp1Y0cACK4B/s320/WIN_20160525_101459.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div>I gave the class some planning templates and we explored the key variables as a class discussion, led by me. I warned them that there were variables we would find impossible to control, due to their random nature. Do you want to carry on? YES!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>They were told to write up a method for homework. I seldom give homework, so stressed that this must be important if I was giving homework tonight. The next day, the students shared their methods with their group (we sit in groups of 4-6 students) and came up with a hybrid that they were happy with. I went around each group and gave honest critique. I also said, to each group that there was an easier way, involving models. Would you prefer to do that? NO!!!</div><div><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the end of that lesson, I told the class that no method contained enough details to be successful. None of them controlled enough key variables to give meaningful results. All the while, I had my hand on a cannon that fires projectiles at known angles. I explained that in Science, we sometimes use <i>models</i> to test an idea, then go out and see if our results apply to the real world. If they wanted, I would provide them with a method, using models.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ua2Mz34s7s4/V1CZyPE2CVI/AAAAAAAAD3k/OocfqwBdXE4SKolF8YyjKhzB9uWnIM2bACK4B/s1600/WIN_20160602_120543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ua2Mz34s7s4/V1CZyPE2CVI/AAAAAAAAD3k/OocfqwBdXE4SKolF8YyjKhzB9uWnIM2bACK4B/s320/WIN_20160602_120543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />Alternatively, they had two more lessons to work as a team <i>against</i>&nbsp;me. If they could come up with a workable method that <i>might</i>&nbsp;get meaningful, valid results, I would let them do it <i>their way</i>. I must warn you: This is the hard road; I will challenge every decision you make in your method; I will push you for details; you will have to organise all the equipment. Or, I will give you <i>my</i>&nbsp;method... What do you want to do?<br /><div><br /></div><div>They took the tougher road, and boy did they prove me wrong!!! I still suspect that their results will be invalid, but their process in developing a method and what they have learned has been a huge success. Their method is workable, at Level 1 of NCEA.</div><div><br /></div><div>What did I observe?</div><div><ul><li>The class needed guidance for allocating jobs to achieve what was required in the very tight time frame. "Focus Groups" met this need, as well as regular "checking in" by me.</li><li>The students who were "passengers" stepped up to the challenge once they were made accountable by their peers in their "focus group" and me.</li><li>The chance to learn in a context <i>they chose</i>&nbsp;seems to have had a positive outcome for engagement <i>and</i>&nbsp;grit.</li></ul><div><br /></div></div><div><h4><span style="color: purple;">WHAT NEXT?</span></h4><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veTU6uuJ_8A/V1CiuqfgECI/AAAAAAAAD4M/kO5-fyaaEzAT6WFdJPV7cxI9H2PaNYCowCK4B/s1600/000.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veTU6uuJ_8A/V1CiuqfgECI/AAAAAAAAD4M/kO5-fyaaEzAT6WFdJPV7cxI9H2PaNYCowCK4B/s320/000.PNG" width="320" /></a>One "investigation" does not make for meaningful, valid conclusions. I need to come up with some other ways to push my students in a way that will test their grit and perseverance. In terms of a spiral of inquiry, new action is required...</div></div><div><br /></div><div>In Practical Science, I will be playing "Agent Provocateur" when students are learning about Conspiracy Theories. This will put barriers in the way of them coming to conclusions. I look forward to seeing if this makes students review and refine their evidence and conclusions, or if they will just brush me off and submit their work, as is.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Chemistry, I am not quite sure what to do next. Feedback from the students has to be the next step. What did they like about the challenges? What did they dislike about learning that way?</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-17043900761658464442016-01-19T11:08:00.000+13:002016-01-19T12:52:48.696+13:00Practical Science Reflections<div class="MsoNormal">Last year was our first with a new Science course, utilising NCEA Internal Assessments to assess the learning of our students, based upon their own inherent (or developed) interests. It was a very interesting journey. I learned a lot of things that we will need to apply to how we run the course this year.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Conspiracy‼</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal">Our context for learning about Scientific Literacy was to look at conspiracy theories, asking students to either debunk them, confirm them, or come up with their own theory to explain their findings. This was not intended to be explicitly assessed at the time, as we had reservations about whether the quality of the work would be at the level required to earn Level 1 credits. Instead, students were given the option to revisit their work and present it towards the end of the year, and assessing it against AS90853, which is an English Achievement Standard.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This created three issues:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ol><li><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Student engagement in the unit lapsed quickly, as they did not see the value in the learning if it was not being assessed at the time. Despite being assured that they could submit it later in the year, when their writing and other scientific skills had developed, they wanted tangible reward (credits) or more meaningful immediate feedback (“What </span><u style="text-indent: -18pt;">is</u><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">needed to pass this?”).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">By assessing the learning later in the year, many students did not submit any work. They had no interest in revisiting work from earlier in the year, and/or felt they had already earned enough credits via Science without it.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The timeline for moderation, feedback and resubmission was difficult. Again, this issue was created by assessing the learning so late in the year. It was compounded by working with another Learning Area. Despite the wonderful assistance and guidance of our English Department, finding the time for cross-curricular collaboration in Term Four was nearly impossible.</span></li></ol><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Therefore, something needs to change in 2016. Fortunately, it looks as though the change is an easy one. When we teach the unit, we will assess the students’ learning at the time. If they do not meet the standard required for the Achievement Standard, it will be up to them whether they want to use their own time to prepare it for resubmission.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewvzRQUMu6s/Vp1a4o4Tm6I/AAAAAAAADgU/aZ2fVGpq79s/s1600/CRAAP.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ewvzRQUMu6s/Vp1a4o4Tm6I/AAAAAAAADgU/aZ2fVGpq79s/s320/CRAAP.PNG" width="320" /></a>The other issue we had was ensuring the written language was at the correct level. This is an unspoken criterion in all English Achievement Standards, I was informed. Therefore, we should be more rigid with how the work should be submitted. We had tried to give absolute flexibility to cater for student individuality. However, expecting the finished product to be a speech (which we will record), and asking students to also submit a transcript of the speech should be another way to allow for our students to submit their work earlier in the year (many of the students enrolled in this course need more support and time to develop their writing to the required level for a written submission) and meet the required standard.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Team Teaching</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal">Last year, I was delighted to hear that a colleague was being given one period per week to work with me and my class. This made a huge difference for managing the students’ individual inquiries and different learning needs. In 2016, we are looking to go a step further with this. It is planned that one member of the Learning Support Department will join the class for at least one period per week, as well as having the support from a Science Department colleague.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Not only will this allow for more support for the students, it will allow for more feedback and sharing of ideas for how to best cater for the learning and assessment. It should also provide more opportunities for <i>in situ</i> moderation of activities and tasks.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Personal Inquiries</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal">Spending the second half the course on Personal Inquiries was a mixed bag. I was delighted with the learning going on <i>most of the time</i>. Some lessons were complete write-offs with some students. This was particularly true when we had class in the last lesson of the day and sometimes diabolical when this was the last period of the week.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-62Drmny2jvA/Vp1Y0_-6Y2I/AAAAAAAADf8/dlzK2uqfZ9E/s1600/005.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-62Drmny2jvA/Vp1Y0_-6Y2I/AAAAAAAADf8/dlzK2uqfZ9E/s320/005.PNG" width="237" /></a>I do believe that the increased support will help keep students focused on their inquiries and learning. It should allow for more conversations to press students about what they have learned and what their next steps are. It should allow for more opportunities to guide and direct students if they seem a little “rudderless”.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We have developed some very useful templates, checklists and activities to scaffold and direct the learning. Ensuring these are commonplace and used by all students should also help keep inquiries on-track, while also making the assessment expectations explicitly clear.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">From the work done in 2015, it is clear that more regular targets, goals and checks are needed for all students, not primarily those who seem disengaged or to be struggling; many students have excellent avoidance strategies that can be hard to pick up on in a busy classroom where everyone is working on something different. There is a little bit of work to be done here, but this is more about routines than about resources etc.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Moderation</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal">Making/finding time for moderation was challenging in 2015, particularly with the variety of tasks being used to assess the learning. I do not believe for one minute that we have all tasks 100% correct. Moderation of the tasks was done with the Head of Department, prior to them being given to the students. However, it is unsustainable to persist with passing every task over his desk. We need to explore a better solution.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Fortunately, we now have a set of tasks for a variety of contexts utilising a range Achievement Standards. These are likely to need refinement, but this is less daunting than writing them “from scratch”. External moderation feedback will be very useful for this.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was encouraged with the external moderation feedback we received for our Chemical Reactions internal assessment task. We volunteered this task, as it was co-written by the two 2015 Practical Science teachers. Our marking schedule was criticised for being too tough but, other than this, we had done a good job according to the moderator. It meant some of our students’ work had to be remarked, and their grades had to be raised. I would much prefer feedback saying this, than saying we had rewarded work that did not meet the required standard.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, this does reinforce the importance of collaboration and moderation with tasks designed to formally assess student learning. We need to work on better systems and routines to ensure the busyness of school life does not hamper the completion of these important tasks.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Course Content</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal">While this course has been based upon the Nature of Science and student interests, we have included a few mandatory topics and their respective assessments. I have already mentioned <i>Conspiracy‼</i>, which helped develop students’ scientific literacy (and cynicism, hopefully). This had its issues but I think we have a way to make this unit more meaningful to the students.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Additionally, we have also had:<span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Chemical Reactions</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Practical Investigations</span></li></ul><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><h3><span style="color: #38761d;">CHEMICAL REACTIONS</span><o:p></o:p></h3><div class="MsoNormal">This was our first unit. It used different types of chemical reactions to develop some key scientific skills:</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ul><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7m8Ve5GPB2Q/Vp1apr4sE-I/AAAAAAAADgI/FILfNe824NQ/s1600/Chem%2BRxns.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7m8Ve5GPB2Q/Vp1apr4sE-I/AAAAAAAADgI/FILfNe824NQ/s400/Chem%2BRxns.PNG" width="233" /></a><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Making observations</span></li><li><span style="font-family: &quot;symbol&quot;; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Classifying (reaction types)</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Writing Equations (word and symbol)</span></li></ul><br /><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The learning was assessed using a portfolio over a few weeks. Students collected evidence that they could carry out simple procedures and explain their observations using equations. They also had to use this information to classify the types of reactions occurring. This was assessed using AS90947.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The students enjoyed this topic and it was a great way to start the year. It built their confidence and “playing with chemicals” is always fun. The assessment task has been adjusted slightly in response to feedback from external moderation, but there will be few changes to this in 2016. This unit served its purpose well.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Keeping a <a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/" target="_blank">blog</a> to support the learning being done in class was also a worthwhile exercise and I will be doing this again, this year. It included videos of experiments and images of the whiteboard notes. These allowed students to revisit key parts of the unit when they needed them.</div><h3><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></h3><h3><span style="color: #38761d;">PRACTICAL INVESTIGATIONS</span><o:p></o:p></h3><div class="MsoNormal">Trying to find contexts for practical investigations that resonate with the students is a potential challenge. I was fortunate enough to have a class of sports-mad boys and this unit was studied during the Rugby World Cup. This made it easy to choose a context for the learning.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6ZKV7plolQ/Vp1iCreLCxI/AAAAAAAADgk/hj4HfcNJCKM/s1600/Investigation%2BPlanning.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6ZKV7plolQ/Vp1iCreLCxI/AAAAAAAADgk/hj4HfcNJCKM/s320/Investigation%2BPlanning.PNG" width="320" /></a>In 2016, I have a co-educational class, so expect this to be more difficult. I will need to think of a context for an investigation the whole class can work on together, because this worked very well in 2015. Students fed off each other and learned from each other’s mistakes and successes. Collectively, the class did very well, and this was reflected in the final assessment task.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The final assessment task had nothing to do with our rugby investigation, by the way. It was a task common to all Year 11 students, regardless of which Science course they were enrolled in. Students’ results and engagement in 2015 suggest that teaching the skills and expectations via a common student-selected practical investigation, followed by a teacher-selected one is a winning formula, so I will go down this road again in 2016.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Using the assessment planning templates in the learning was also a good idea, and using colour-coding to help students plan their investigations was also very useful for assisting the students with organisation or learning difficulties in this class.<o:p></o:p></div><div style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm; padding: 0cm;"><br /></div></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">----------------------------------------------------------------</div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">With 2016 about to start, I am really looking forward to a second year teaching Practical Science. There are some changes to implement for the teaching, learning and assessment. It will be interesting to see how successful this course is with a different cohort of students. Regardless of how this year plays out, I am really looking forward to what I am about to learn about teaching Science in this more flexible, student-centred way.<o:p></o:p></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-5125052969769006412015-10-07T09:58:00.000+13:002015-10-07T09:58:12.217+13:00Grant LichtmanHere I am at ULearn15, listening to the inspiring and knowledgeable Grant Lichtman. I have just started #EDJourney, which I love. Then there is this wonderful keynote speech. They both remind me of a recent chat hosted by Danielle Myburgh of #edchatNZ with Grant. I was lucky enough to be invited into that chat:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hFn3Nyz5R7o" width="560"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">He puts it so simply - let's let go of our fear and challenge the inertia of traditional education. Let's reignite the learning for today's (and tomorrow's) world!</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-77910264892494588992015-10-01T07:44:00.001+13:002015-10-01T08:20:44.334+13:00The Purpose of Learning?<div class="MsoNoSpacing">It has been a slow year for blogging, primarily due to the workload of balancing my pastoral role with another passion – leading and teaching a new Year 11 Science course. I have been able to explore and inquire as to the motivation and purpose of learning for my students, comparing and contrasting the students in this course with those in my senior Chemistry classes. Honestly, I have probably ended up with more questions than answers, but I have found one way to offer a course within a traditional school system which has the learning and the student at the centre, with NCEA credits being conveniently earned along the way.<br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Year 11 Practical Science</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:268pt;margin-top:25.05pt;width:183.35pt; height:246.75pt;z-index:-251656192;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text; mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-relative:page; mso-height-relative:page' wrapcoords="-78 0 -78 21542 21600 21542 21600 0 -78 0"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.png" o:title="005"/> <w:wrap type="through"/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GrlWE_h3sZ0/VgwsnQ-oy-I/AAAAAAAADcE/F-Lb-qh9x8E/s1600/005.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GrlWE_h3sZ0/VgwsnQ-oy-I/AAAAAAAADcE/F-Lb-qh9x8E/s320/005.PNG" width="237" /></a>At the end of last year, I approached my Head of Department about redesigning our “Alternative Science” course. This was already a completely internally-assessed course, designed for students who struggled to achieve success in exam-format assessments. It was a meaningful and valuable course already; I just thought that it could be a little more student-centred and could offer more student agency.</div><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The development and implementation of this course has been a real eye-opener for me, and highly rewarding for me, the teacher of the other class, and for most of the students who were given the opportunity to enrol in this course. I have been forced to become more fluent in a range of Level 1 Achievement Standards, and not just those in Science. I have learned a lot about the “credit-shopping” focus of students, regardless of their perceived ability and/or motivation. I have finally developed a way to support and guide less-organised students through portfolio-style assessments – it isn’t perfect, but it is a huge improvement on where we were at the start of the year!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">If you are interested, you can read more about the journey in these posts:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html">http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/practical-science-inquiries.html">http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2015/08/practical-science-inquiries.html</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">We have designed a course which starts off with a Chemistry unit (because everyone loves mixing and burning chemicals) to teach observation and experimental skills. This is followed by a unit based around a Conspiracy Theory to teach about Scientific Literacy and research skills. The final prescribed unit is a Physics practical investigation to develop students’ Fair Testing. For these parts of the course, we kept a Class Blog to record the important content and skills: <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/">http://pracsci2015.blogspot.co.nz/</a><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jwba3wWXY8c/VgwsvgwzS1I/AAAAAAAADcM/YJUF3tFu2S0/s1600/000.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jwba3wWXY8c/VgwsvgwzS1I/AAAAAAAADcM/YJUF3tFu2S0/s200/000.PNG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_1" o:spid="_x0000_s1030" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:0;margin-top:.4pt; width:169pt;height:148.4pt;z-index:-251658240;visibility:visible; mso-wrap-style:square;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0; mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt; mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:left; mso-position-horizontal-relative:margin;mso-position-vertical:absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0; mso-width-relative:margin;mso-height-relative:margin'> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image005.png" o:title="000"/> <w:wrap type="through" anchorx="margin"/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The remainder of the year is focused on students’ interests and finding ways to structure these interests into robust inquiries. We had inquiries based on shotguns, MotoX, artillery, rugby kicking techniques, rowing technique, skateboarding tricks…it was amazing!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The teachers’ role is that of a mentor and (supportive) critic, while also being charged with finding suitable NCEA Achievement Standards to assess the learning with. As part of this, the marking schedules and portfolio coversheets have been co-constructed with the students. This has given transparency to the assessment and the expectations upon the students. This has also been the really time-consuming part, but also very rewarding!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">The purpose of learning in this course has been, ultimately, to explore an inherent or developed interest and investigate it in a scientific manner. The wonderful outcomes have included most student earning at least 16 NCEA Level 1 credits along the way (some at Excellence level), outstanding student engagement, and a dramatic increase in students’ self-belief and self-worth.<o:p></o:p><br /><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">“Academic” Courses</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNoSpacing">This year, I also had my philosophies regarding assessment challenged. While teaching the Year 11 course, I have also been teaching Level 2 and Level 3 Chemistry. These are courses where grades are ever-important. Most of these students are expecting to be shown how to excel in assessment tasks, sometimes regardless of the quality of the actual learning.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1028" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:0;margin-top:3.15pt;width:151.5pt; height:227.5pt;z-index:-251652096;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text; mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-relative:page; mso-height-relative:page' wrapcoords="-107 0 -107 21529 21600 21529 21600 0 -107 0"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg" o:title="resizedimage202303-m-nicoll-lab"/> <w:wrap type="tight"/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RI6NqsoGkQA/Vgws3j2_GkI/AAAAAAAADcU/z3i58baoetU/s1600/resizedimage202303-m-nicoll-lab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RI6NqsoGkQA/Vgws3j2_GkI/AAAAAAAADcU/z3i58baoetU/s200/resizedimage202303-m-nicoll-lab.jpg" width="133" /></a>It would indeed be great to offer the same level of student agency and flexibility in these courses. However, the assessments do have the power to drive the learning in these classes. The day-to-day teaching and learning opportunities can be such that student choice and differentiated learning can be provided but, ultimately, there are externally-assessed examinations to prepare for.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">There is no way to avoid the amount and specificity of the content that must be “covered” for these assessments. There is no escaping that students need to be coached how to answer examination-style questions at some stage through each unit. There is no avoiding the issue that to offer a meaningful number of credits, there is a LOT of work to get through.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">If tertiary institutions put the main onus upon the externally-assessed Achievement Standards, courses such as Chemistry will always be driven by the assessment, rather than the learning. As I say, my philosophies have been challenged. By offering such an exciting course to the Year 11 “strugglers”, I have felt as though my senior chemists have missed out on the opportunity to explore the magic of their subject due the focus on grades. This is not a criticism, merely an observation…tinged with a little frustration, as I do not have the answer.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><h1><span style="color: orange;">Why Are We Learning This?</span><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Through two very different types of courses, I come back to that old adage from the disenchanted student, “Why are we learning this stuff? When will I ever need it in my life?” If you do not view these as fair questions, then I suggest you care more about your subject than you do about your students.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Student agency regarding contexts and, dare I suggest it, means of assessment are key components of making the learning meaningful to students. Surely this is achievable in Year 9 and 10, even in the silo of a single subject. Not to be disparaging, but context is even possible in Mathematics. NCEA is using contextualised questions more and more. What better preparation can there be than to apply mathematical skills to real student interests? I know that subjects like English, Social Studies and Science lend themselves more towards this type of learning, but Science is often prone to being too abstract if taken out of context and focused more on content.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1029" type="#_x0000_t75" style='position:absolute;margin-left:197.5pt;margin-top:13.2pt;width:254pt; height:191.3pt;z-index:-251650048;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text; mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-relative:page; mso-height-relative:page' wrapcoords="-51 0 -51 21532 21600 21532 21600 0 -51 0"> <v:imagedata src="file:///C:\Users\Matt\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image009.jpg" o:title="2013-11-29 11"/> <w:wrap type="through"/></v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">If it is manageable in Years 9 and 10, why not beyond this? This is where the students’ respective reasons for learning become vital. Does the student sees learning in school as part of the journey to tertiary study? Does the student see learning in school as a way to learn how to learn, but has no (current) aspirations for further study? Does the student just want to be entertained until he/she finds a job that is interesting enough to do instead of being at school?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TD89mDdIMBs/Vgws_q8QWFI/AAAAAAAADcc/I9sHcVFyjBw/s1600/2013-11-29%2B11.01.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TD89mDdIMBs/Vgws_q8QWFI/AAAAAAAADcc/I9sHcVFyjBw/s200/2013-11-29%2B11.01.16.jpg" width="200" /></a>If the student sees tertiary study as the ultimate goal, then getting the grades to achieve this goal makes the learning authentic in itself. Courses that optimise this student’s ability to reach this goal are suitable. At the same time, these courses need to develop the whole student, of course, but the purpose of the learning is further study; the course must cater for this for this student.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">If the student does not see tertiary study as the goal, then grades themselves (beyond getting sufficient credits to earn their NCEA Level 1 certificate, for example) are not going to be motivation enough. Authentic learning opportunities are vital for this student. Can the learning be applied to a hobby, interest, potential career…? This student’s course must provide enough flexibility and agency for this student to persevere with the learning, and to see the value of learning.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">As I said at the start, I think I have more questions than answers. Do we need to offer two (or more) pathways for students in our courses beyond Year 10, in every school? How do we make them synergetic enough that students can shift course if they find their goals and aspirations have changed along the way? Regardless of the answers that are correct for your students, your school, and your community, when looking at your courses please always ask yourself what the purpose of the learning is.</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p></o:p></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-7966291343391964172015-08-06T12:22:00.000+12:002015-08-06T12:22:12.629+12:00Practical Science InquiriesWhat a year it has been with my <a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html" target="_blank">Year 11 Practical Science course</a>. This class have become the absolute highlight of my day and I miss not teaching them on a Wednesday. I even enjoy them when they are completely off the wall, like they were last Friday. Why do I love teaching these guys so much?<br /><br /><h3><span style="color: purple;">RELATIONSHIPS</span></h3><div>I made it very clear from the start that I wanted to get to know these boys (yes, boys' only class in a co-ed school...judge, if you want) really well. I wanted to know why they did/did not enjoy Science. I wanted to know what they enjoyed learning about and what they enjoyed doing in their spare time. I wanted to know what mattered the most to them about learning - NCEA credits, or enjoyment. Then I assured them that I cared, and that we could achieve credits AND enjoy the learning/course.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3><span style="color: purple;">COLLABORATION</span></h3></div><div>We had a frank chat about this after recently completing an Internal Assessment, just before starting to plan and design our Personal Inquiries. Yes, I gave up an entire lesson to ask my boys about their thoughts, opinions and to seek their advice. These are boys who have been (in the past) pigeonholed as "trouble", "reluctant learners", or "real battlers", for example. Never have they been labelled as "academics" and only a few are your classic definition of a "leader".</div><div><br /></div><div>All but two passed this difficult Internal Assessment (<a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/achievements/2015/as90935.pdf" target="_blank">AS 90935</a>), and there was a fair distribution of Merits and a single Excellence as well! I was very proud of them. They were proud of themselves. "So, from here on, do we want to focus more or credits, or on learning about things you care about?" "Both, sir." I agreed that was a fair call. They assured me that they were enjoying the course as much as I was and, while they wanted credits, they didn't want to focus on getting Excellence at the expense of enjoyment...so long as they got credits at Achievement or Merit level.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3><span style="color: purple;">STUDENT INTERESTS</span></h3></div><div>We are now doing Personal Inquiries (the class begged me not to call them "Passion Projects" because "primary school kids do those"). Having been through units to develop scientific literacy, fair testing, and design thinking, we are in the "fun" part of the course (in my opinion). The structure behind these inquiries has come from <a href="http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Pedagogy-and-assessment/Evidence-based-leadership/Data-gathering-and-analysis/The-spiral-of-inquiry" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wizK3XoXu64/VcKkguElgdI/AAAAAAAADVU/ev70ORUTfdE/s1600/000.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wizK3XoXu64/VcKkguElgdI/AAAAAAAADVU/ev70ORUTfdE/s320/000.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div>Students were asked to identify a topic they were really interested in, then brainstorm some key aspects of that topic that might be interesting to them:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QvLhetTurlE/VcKklJF71zI/AAAAAAAADVc/AQ9okSz1R00/s1600/001.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QvLhetTurlE/VcKklJF71zI/AAAAAAAADVc/AQ9okSz1R00/s400/001.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>From this "scanning", they start to focus their inquiry:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KiKdJLPyFn8/VcKkzUN6x7I/AAAAAAAADVk/GqaBF__gBH4/s1600/002.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KiKdJLPyFn8/VcKkzUN6x7I/AAAAAAAADVk/GqaBF__gBH4/s400/002.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Once they have a few possible focus questions, I helped them (along with another teacher who team-teaches with me on a Monday with this class) to develop a hunch (possible answer) to investigate:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TerlZ4EYyHA/VcKlO0x1VBI/AAAAAAAADVs/tvuD1LgYgBE/s1600/003.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TerlZ4EYyHA/VcKlO0x1VBI/AAAAAAAADVs/tvuD1LgYgBE/s400/003.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UhYy2_Dqpk4/VcKlTMT8IwI/AAAAAAAADV0/MU5UA_MrnPs/s1600/004.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UhYy2_Dqpk4/VcKlTMT8IwI/AAAAAAAADV0/MU5UA_MrnPs/s400/004.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The students are now in the phase where they are researching, experimenting, collecting data... They are doing anything and everything they can to explore whether their hunches are correct or not. My job is a dream. I get to talk with the lads about what they have learned in the past 24 hours. A group looking at tyre pressure and MotoX racing have some interesting results which was awesome to discuss in class today. They have a great understanding; now, to apply that to some Physics principles so I can reward them with NCEA credits...</div><div><br /></div><div><h3><span style="color: purple;">ASSESSING</span></h3></div><div>The potentially time-consuming part of this has been finding ways to reward the learning with NCEA credits. After all, this is what the students want as a tangible reward for their hard work. Most students are doing some work on a sport or machine, so assigning a Level 1 NCEA Achievement Standard was easier than I expected: <a href="http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/achievements/2015/as90936.pdf" target="_blank">AS 90936</a>. I have also become <u>very</u>&nbsp;familiar with the Level 1 and Level 2 Internal Assessments in Science, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Earth and Beyond.</div><div><br /></div><div>Once we all agreed that we could <i>start</i>&nbsp;by having our work assessed by AS 90936, we unpacked the Achievement Standard and an example from <a href="http://ncea.tki.org.nz/Resources-for-Internally-Assessed-Achievement-Standards/Science/Physics/Level-1-Physics" target="_blank">TKI</a>&nbsp;to come up with our own task. Students were given manila folders to keep a portfolio in, along with a checklist of things that needed to be in the portfolio to complement the final report, video, PowerPoint...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iKNfFAHNR4c/VcKn3RoZagI/AAAAAAAADWA/G1Twr9bSc4g/s1600/005.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iKNfFAHNR4c/VcKn3RoZagI/AAAAAAAADWA/G1Twr9bSc4g/s640/005.PNG" width="474" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I stressed above that this is the Achievement Standard these boys are&nbsp;<i>starting</i>&nbsp;with. This is only 2-3 weeks of work. After this is finished, we will go through the process again; again matching what each student is focusing his learning on with an Achievement Standard. Some students will do new topics, while others will just have new focus questions for the same topic.</div><div><br /></div><div>I just get to go along on the learning journey with them...and it's a real rush! Trust me.</div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-78764645187101000812015-06-18T19:12:00.003+12:002015-06-18T19:12:30.378+12:00Radio Debut!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rd0iaP7-wg/VYJu0i49xiI/AAAAAAAADPg/zKAmk3Xlopg/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rd0iaP7-wg/VYJu0i49xiI/AAAAAAAADPg/zKAmk3Xlopg/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div><div>My last post was about an #edchatNZ regarding innovation in assessment. Shortly afterwards, Danielle asked me to be available bright and early on the Sunday morning for a radio interview via <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/" target="_blank">BAM! Radio Network</a>&nbsp;about the chat.</div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>We had a great discussion about the chat and the innovation I am doing with a colleague at my school with Year 11 Science and assessing it using NCEA Achievement Standards based upon the Nature of Science and students' passions.</div><div><br /></div><div>The team at BAM! Radio did a wonderful job of editing it, making me sound almost intelligent and articulate! Danielle has since done another one with Mel Moore, showing her talent at asking good questions and leading interesting discussion. Personally, I was delighted this was done, as I missed that particular #edchatNZ chat due to other commitments.</div><div><div><br /></div><div>So, here is a link to the actual radio interview: <a href="http://www.bamradionetwork.com/connected-educators/3021-the-need-to-rethink-assessments">http://www.bamradionetwork.com/connected-educators/3021-the-need-to-rethink-assessments</a></div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-86586333494366647052015-04-30T14:52:00.000+12:002015-04-30T15:00:06.536+12:00Innovation in Assessment#edchatNZ on 23 April addressed this issue in education. I was lucky enough to be Devil's Advocate for this Twitter Chat. "Lucky?", you rightly ask... Well, yes, lucky. This is a topic that I am passionate about, particularly in the realm of teaching Secondary Science and Chemistry. Lucky, because I had to (try to) ignore my predispositions, preconceptions and passions for the chat; instead, I had to "listen" to what was being said, and to challenge people, whether I agreed with them or not. Lucky, because I had to be more open-minded about this issue than I (probably) usually am.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-timeline" data-widget-id="593608053624152064" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edchatNZquestion">#edchatNZquestion Tweets</a></div><br /><script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script>During and after the chat, I was struck by two resounding themes:<br /><br /><ol><li>Many feel like we are slaves to the assessment process/expectations.</li><li>There are some people who have wonderful ideas of how to make assessment work <u>for</u>&nbsp;their students (not <u>to</u>&nbsp;their students). They just need the opportunity to put these ideas into action.</li></ol><div>In a nutshell, I see these as a closed mindset versus a growth mindset. I personally believe that NCEA (as a form of assessment) and SOLO Taxonomy (as a form of feedback, advice and self-assessment) provide us with opportunities to have a growth mindset.</div><br /><h3><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">SLAVES TO THE ASSESSMENT</span></h3><div>First if all, I want to address a definition of "assessment". I am going to talk about assessment as a formal, reported task (or set of tasks). This may be to report National Standards or to give NCEA grades (primarily used in the New Zealand education system). I am not talking about the formative processes of feedback and advice. These are indeed assessments, but I am talking about assessment as a task, not as an act. I am talking about formal, summative assessment, not formative assessment.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can only speak with any experience about teaching Secondary Science and Chemistry. I do not have much firsthand experience in Primary, Early Childhood, or in other subject areas. Therefore, I will only talk about the areas in which I feel I have some experience and expertise. My comments may, therefore, be very incorrect when related to these other fields of education.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Junior Science, my experience has been that we have a set of common assessment tasks (tests, assignments, exams) to measure the level and/or progress of our students. We have units of work designed to excite students about the wonder of Science, develop their understanding of the Nature of Science, and to prepare them with prior knowledge that will be useful in future years of science study. In my experience, performance in the assessments is less important than the engagement, effort and learning of the individual students. I love teaching Junior Science!</div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, students are ever-judged by their outcomes in these common assessment tasks. This may be by their peers, by their parents, by the school, or by themselves. For some, this is wonderful motivation for doing their best. For others, these assessment results emphasise (or reinforce) what they <u>cannot</u>&nbsp;do. All too often, I have students who produce good work (some even produce excellent work) when producing project-type work, while these same students score incredibly poorly in tests and exams. Yes, my report comments and parent-teacher interview discussions focus on what the student <u>can</u>&nbsp;do well (and identify the student's limitations in test-/exam-type conditions), but that doesn't prevent many hard-working students becoming despondent about their progress/achievement in Science. It starts to create a closed mindset about their ability in the subject. I want to be clear; I am not talking about apathetic students, but those who genuinely try very hard and usually "do their best".</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>"Science is hard."</li><li>"Science sucks."</li><li>"I can't do Science."</li><li>"I'm not smart enough to do well in Science."</li><li>"I can't wait to drop Science."</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>For those who do succeed in Junior Science, and have a passion for Chemistry, I am lucky enough to teach a vast majority of them. I love Chemistry, but this is a subject where I feel like a slave to the assessment. It feels like the students' primary goal for taking Secondary School Chemistry is to get NCEA credits, and to get the best grades possible. The love for the subject itself is secondary to this goal. This focus is usually shared (handed down from?) parents and from the school. Again, success is judged upon grades in the assessments.</div><div><br /></div><div>For this reason, units of work are designed to neatly marry up with assessment tasks. The aspects that will be assessed are given the most time in the teaching of these units. Fortunately, in Chemistry at least, this can still preserve the magic and awe of the subject, but this is not always the case. Assessment Calendars start to dictate the amount of time that can be dedicated to each unit of work, and parallel opportunities often need to be foregone because they cannot be fit in.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, I see students who have been working very well having their confidence and enjoyment of the subject undermined by an assessment result. Sometimes this is a lack of preparation and it is a tough (and good) lesson learned. Sometimes this is a "bad day at the office", but the die is cast for that particular assessment. Yes, Internal Assessments do often have re-submission or reassessment opportunities, but sometimes the time pressure is too great on students to do this justice as well as performing "to their potential" in their other subjects at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>The students' sense of worth in the subject is being controlled by their achievement in the assessments. The teachers' programmes are being controlled by allowing students to perform at the best level possible. What a shame we are slaves to the assessment rather than servants to learning.</div><div><br /></div><div><h3><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">MOONSHOT ASSESSMENT IDEAS</span></h3><div>"Moonshot" was the term used in #edchatNZ. There was some real magic suggested there by teachers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Teachers talked about designing assessment tasks and marking rubrics <i>with</i>&nbsp;their students. I challenged them on this in my role as Devil's Advocate, but see this as wonderful! How often do we actually unpack Achievement Standards with our classes as part of the learning process? How often do we get into a dialogue about what a certain level of detail for a definition, for example, is so important in the marking schedule?</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Teachers talked about allowing students' submissions to be in a non-written format. Why not accept a "selfie video" or an annotated PowerPoint as a formal submission? English and Languages have speeches and other oral assessment tasks. Why can't Science, Geography, Mathematics...? So long as it satisfies the assessment criteria, why does it need to be written. We often accept verbal re submissions (clarifications) when someone is on a grade boundary; what is the difference?</div><div><br /></div><div>I was very excited to be part of a discussion about basing the learning on students' interests and passions and/or on the most "wow-factor" aspects of a subject. From the learning, selecting assessments that the students could be measured against. This switch of the horse and carriage is one that I think NCEA internally-assessed Achievement Standards are perfect for. Externally-assessed Achievement Standards could be used this way too, though.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have been working on this with my Year 11 Science class. We have only two predetermined Science Achievement Standards. The rest are being selected from the work the students do throughout the year. We started the year learning about Chemical Reactions. This included skills such as observing, classifying, balancing equations, inferring and justifying. Throughout the unit, the students built up a portfolio which was submitted and formally assessed.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next unit was "Conspiracy!!". Students selected a conspiracy theory to learn about and decide if they believed the conspiracy or the "face value". They were taught research skills and how to analyse resources (the CRAAP Test) by our wonderful Librarian. I then used Austin's Butterfly (below) to teach a Critique Process. Depending upon the quality of the students' work, they will be given the opportunity to submit this as a formal assessment or not. Depending upon the context of their respective conspiracy theories, and the format of their submissions, we will search for Achievement Standards to measure their work against. Some may get Astronomy credits (Moon Landing hoax), for example. Many are likely to be assessed against an English Achievement Standard - Using Information Literacy Skills. Many are considering using this research for their speeches in English for later in the year!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hqh1MRWZjms" width="560"></iframe></div></div><br />The remainder of the year is based around Passion Projects, and using the experimental skills learned in "Chemical Reactions" and the information literacy skills learned in "Conspiracy!!" to make these inquiries robust and meaningful. Who knows how many Achievement Standards these students may <u>decide</u>&nbsp;to be assessed against.<br /><br />There is one more predetermined Achievement Standard we are doing. We are doing the Level 1 Physics Practical Investigation. This can count towards Level 1 Numeracy as well as being a very good assessment for testing students' experimental design and laboratory report writing. It is a common assessment for <u>all</u>&nbsp;Year 11 students, not just my special lot. It fits in the ethos of "my" class, so I was always keen to assess them using this.<br /><br />There are ways and means to be innovative with assessment and make it work <u>for</u>&nbsp;you and your students. There are some moonshot ideas that were shared via #edchatNZ last week, but many are not quite so "out there" as we may think; some teachers and some schools are already embracing and attempting many of these great ideas. Connect with someone who is trying these things, then have a discussion with the "powers that be" to see if you can be part of a growth mindset about assessment.Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-6142031928689901682015-02-24T22:27:00.001+13:002015-02-24T22:27:36.239+13:00NOT Teaching to the AssessmentThis is one of my biggest bugbears - designing my teaching (and students' learning experiences) around the assessments at the end of the unit, or the end of the year. My other big gripe is with students "credit counting" but I'm not going to get into that here...if I can help it - no promises, mind you!<br /><br /><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">WHY?</span></h4><div>Why do we traditionally align our units so neatly with the assessments, rather than authentic learning experiences? Why do we focus so much on "training" our students to give "model" answers? Why are our students so focused on being guided to the "right" answers (rather than seeking answers to their own questions, perhaps!)?</div><div><br /></div><div>Surely the answer lies in the view of what success in our classrooms is measured by. If you get good grades, you are a success. If you get poor grades, you are not. Maybe the fault is actually in the assessments themselves. Do they <u>really</u>&nbsp;reward the type of adaptability and level of thinking that we would like our students/graduates to have?</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not going to offer answers here. I am hoping people might share their thoughts in the comments section of this blog... Nah, it'll never happen!</div><div><br /></div><div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">WHY NOT?</span></h4><div>Being solely (I use this word deliberately) focused on preparing students for their assessments has made me enjoy teaching Science and Chemistry less. I am making a concerted effort not to focus <u>exclusively</u> on the final assessment(s),but more on the Nature of Science and exploring students' wonders. Science and Chemistry are amazing subjects, and linked so closely to other important learning - Health (drugs and alcohol, for example), English (research, writing reports, making sound arguments, analysing source material...), Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Astronomy...you are getting my drift here, I think. Why stay constrained to only the learning that will be assessed? How myopic!</div></div><div><br /></div><div>So, I have been making a concerted, deliberate attempt to have my cake and eat it too. I am trying to make the learning experiences more student-centred and student-directed, while also trying to make sure they are well-prepared for the assessments - because these do matter, no matter how Utopian we try to be. I have also not succeeded yet. Sometimes I "teach to the assessment" too much; sometimes I do not explicitly teach how to excel in the assessments enough.</div><div><br /></div><div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">HOW?</span></h4><div>I will give some general ideas that I have tried (and am getting better at offering the students), along with some anecdotes.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><ol><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJdZhHxs1Mk/VOxCx4V1efI/AAAAAAAAC-c/5PPE4O4WZtI/s1600/Blog1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nJdZhHxs1Mk/VOxCx4V1efI/AAAAAAAAC-c/5PPE4O4WZtI/s1600/Blog1.PNG" height="400" width="295" /></a><li>Teach key concepts, film this teaching and make it available online. I currently use blogs but am shifting more to OneNote as the College becomes more and more BYOD.</li><li>Set weekly assignments that are in the style of the assessments that will be used for each topic. I use Moodle to set these as it makes it easy to track students' attempts and grades.</li><li>Use SOLO hexagons to identify the key concepts of the unit. This is really easy in Organic Chemistry, as you can just use the main functional groups. There are so many different ways to use these hexagons to challenge the students' understanding. We have some games to play with these concept hexagons as well.</li><li>Set challenges. This is sometimes with the SOLO hexagons, but usually it is something a lot more exploratory. For example, I set a task in which the students were given one set of quick-fit apparatus, 1-propanol and acidified potassium dichromate solution. Using only this equipment, they had to prepare propanal <u>and</u>&nbsp;propanoic acid, somehow. Research, trial-and-error, testing outcomes... They didn't all succeed, and this was a learning experience as well!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KRMp-OfsARo/VOxDb9biYTI/AAAAAAAAC-s/Y481BI_FzQg/s1600/Moodle1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KRMp-OfsARo/VOxDb9biYTI/AAAAAAAAC-s/Y481BI_FzQg/s1600/Moodle1.PNG" height="253" width="400" /></a></div></li><li>Investigations/Inquiries. I try to base all of the learning around investigations or inquiries. This is much easier in Junior Science due to the lack of any NCEA assessment. However, we now have an NCEA&nbsp;Level 1 Science course that is primarily based around student inquiries. You can read about the plan in this <a href="http://classroommatt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/our-new-science-course.html">blog</a>. We are actually going to assign Achievement Standards to the learning as students progress through their inquiries, rather than predetermining them. I'm nervous; I'm excited!</li><li>Let the students determine the direction and pace of the learning. I gave the class two days to explore the carbonyl compounds. There were chemicals made available so they could do experiments when they felt it suited them best. Some ideas were given for them to use to find out information and to test their understanding. We <i>talked</i>&nbsp;about these chemicals in the real world. There were molecular model kits to "play" with - yes, some of them made models of methamphetamine initially...so we talked about drugs and addiction for a while in that group.</li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwTeK_j89s0/VOxDA77nt-I/AAAAAAAAC-k/vsoIiggg1GE/s1600/Blog2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwTeK_j89s0/VOxDA77nt-I/AAAAAAAAC-k/vsoIiggg1GE/s1600/Blog2.PNG" height="325" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I think I am managing to balance covering the content that will be assessed, while also making the teaching and learning all about the Science/Chemistry. I doesn't suit every student, but it buys me time to work with every one of them a bit more, and to see which buttons I can push to make them remember every lesson for at least a day or two longer...</div></div>Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-50847090237856100892015-02-14T21:09:00.001+13:002015-02-14T21:41:53.823+13:00Know Your StudentsI make a real effort to get to know what makes each of my students tick. I look at data to help me guide them with goal setting. I cherish the relationships that are fostered within my classroom/laboratory. However, a very simple stroke of genius that I was exposed to just before school started that has given me so much more and so much sooner in the year: "5 Things You Should Know About Me."<br /><br /><h4><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW</span></h4>Before any teaching or learning happened in <u>any</u>&nbsp;of my classes this year, I armed every student with a pen and a blank piece of paper. I then talked to them about how I could view them as potential Excellence grades or Scholarships or... You get the idea. So did they. Then I said that I would prefer to view them as individuals with individual reasons for taking "my" subject along with their individual aspirations, both in terms of academic achievement and enjoyment or fulfillment.<br /><br />"So, please write your name on the top of that piece of paper. Don't let anyone else see what you are about to write on there. I want you to share five things about yourself that you think it is important for me to know. But first, here are five things about me that I would like you to know." I shared a few things like how I am very competitive but think I'm a pretty good winner (and loser), and how I never wanted to be a teacher but feel very fortunate to have found a career that resonates with me.<br /><br />I assured the students that I would not share anything they shared with me, unless it made me concerned for their safety. I gave them time to get this done and stressed that this was more important than going through Course Outlines etc. for Day One.<br /><br /><h4><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">WHAT I LEARNED</span></h4>Of course I am not going to give any details. I am going to keep my promise! However, getting the students to hand write their "5 things" was a good way to get an early indication of anyone who might need some literacy help . I also got a better image of the true make up of my classes.<br /><br />There are students whose grades suggest they would be targeting Scholarships this year, but they are more interested in other subjects so doing "my" subject purely for interest-sake. No apology, just thought that I should know. There are students who wanted me to know that they aren't the best-behaved - sorry in advance, sir!<br /><br />I know of the anxieties of certain students and have already been able to focus my attention of some of them to help them more in class. Never before have I arranged lunchtime tutorials to help students so early in the year because never before have I been so explicitly aware of the anxieties of students.<br /><br />Such a simple idea, but so insightful! This is something I will do every year from now on.Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328676961042593083.post-78349617388697480302014-12-13T12:17:00.000+13:002014-12-17T22:54:32.095+13:00Our New Science Course<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4x2hLOWlMSQ/VIt2kiwkmGI/AAAAAAAAC0s/Qa1hWsjon3o/s1600/Profanity.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4x2hLOWlMSQ/VIt2kiwkmGI/AAAAAAAAC0s/Qa1hWsjon3o/s1600/Profanity.JPG" height="320" width="193" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SOURCE:&nbsp;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/<br />commons/5/51/Profanity.JPG</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">How does your Science Department cater for those students for whom Science is a swear word? I mean the type of swear word they use in anger or frustration, not the type that makes them sound like they have “street cred”, by the way! We run a completely internally-assessed course with small numbers of students in each class. This has helped rebuild confidence in scientific skills and thinking, enjoyment for Science, and helped students achieve a meaningful number of credits in a course they were predisposed to hate and/or fail in.</div><br /><o:p></o:p> <br /><div class="MsoNormal">In 2015, we are changing the format of this course a little. Students will be encouraged to follow their own (individual or collective) passions, and formulate these into rigid inquiries. This will give the course a heavy Nature of Science theme, without really having a strong focus on any one “branch” of Science. Students will be learning about things they are passionate and inherently interested in, and being assessed on their inquiries against the most-applicable Achievement Standards.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There will still be some prescribed Achievement Standards being used to assess the students’ inquiries, and there are two topics which have predetermined Achievement Standards being used to assess them. This way, we hope to cater for those students who respond better to explicit instruction, as well as those who need the freedom to explore their own passions. Either way, I hope the students show an increase in scientific literacy and ability to think scientifically.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Topic One: Chemical Reactions</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n3fF7Cjvd3o/VIt20MzDTMI/AAAAAAAAC00/FNfNuA_7zxI/s1600/Magnesium_ribbon_burning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n3fF7Cjvd3o/VIt20MzDTMI/AAAAAAAAC00/FNfNuA_7zxI/s1600/Magnesium_ribbon_burning.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SOURCE:&nbsp;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/<br />commons/8/8a/Magnesium_ribbon_burning.jpg</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">What better way to start a Science course than exploring chemical reactions? Our first topic is going to be looking at different types of chemical reactions and using our knowledge and observations to classify these reactions (e.g. combustion, precipitation, displacement). We will work with the students on writing word equations, formulae and balanced equations for these reactions, although there are no illusions that some students may struggle with these latter skills.</div><o:p></o:p><br /><div class="MsoNormal">We have yet to decide how to assess this unit, except that we are going to use Achievement Standard 90947 (Investigate selected chemical reactions). The resources available online use portfolio-type assessments and/or one-off assessed laboratory sessions. To be consistent with the other outcomes of the course, it may be better to get the students to keep a portfolio of their work. Something to ponder over the holidays…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Topic Two: Inquiry Processes</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is our first point-of-difference from how the course was run in the past. In this topic, students will be mentored through an inquiry process. I am still working on the templates for making this process more transparent for the students, but do know there will need to be explicit milestones to identify for the students if their inquiries are to have any substance. We will need to do a lot of work on critical analysis of the reliability and usefulness of sources students use in their respective inquiries.</div><br /><o:p></o:p> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WX7I9bgWvoQ/VIt3Fph--sI/AAAAAAAAC08/wS3o4e5EFws/s1600/Scott_Gives_Salute_-_GPN-2000-001114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WX7I9bgWvoQ/VIt3Fph--sI/AAAAAAAAC08/wS3o4e5EFws/s1600/Scott_Gives_Salute_-_GPN-2000-001114.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SOURCE:&nbsp;http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/<br />commons/9/98/Scott_Gives_Salute_-_GPN-2000-001114.jpg</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">One of the big decisions we made before the holidays was to allow our students to do this particular inquiry on <i>anything</i> they want. The only “rule” will be that it has to be an <i>inquiry</i>, not just a research project. That means posing and answering a question, or challenging an opinion/claim (e.g. “The moon landing was a hoax”).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">We will be looking at assessing the students’ inquiry processes using an English Achievement Standard, 90853 (Use information literacy skills to form conclusions). If a student’s inquiry also involves measurements, we may be able to also assess their work using a Mathematics Achievement Standard, 91030 (Apply measurement in solving problems), If a student’s inquiry does indeed involve a scientific context, there are many Science internally-assessed Achievement Standards that we can look at to see if they should be encouraged to submit a report (written, video, digital…) to be assessed against one of these as well.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Topic Three: Fair Testing</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">All of our Year 11 students have their ability to plan, carry out, and analyse a practical investigation assessed using Achievement Standard 90935 (Carry out a practical physics investigation that leads to a linear mathematical relationship, with direction). The students in this course will be no different. I foresee the work we do in preparing for this assessment having a real positive spin-off for the rest of the course.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Topic Four: Scientific Inquiry</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">This is potentially the culmination of the other topics. The hope is that the students can be mentored (by us) to find authentic Science-centred inquiries to pursue for the remainder of the year. Depending on what they choose to do, they may collect more evidence for the Achievement Standards already assessed earlier in the year. Ideally, they will also collect enough evidence in their inquiries to be able to be assessed against other Science internally-assessed Achievement Standards.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Timeline</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Term One will be primarily focused on the Chemical Reactions topic, and starting the students’ first inquiries. Teacher-student meetings will be a big part of making sure students are progressing well in their inquiries and checking what support and help they need. The only formal assessment in Term One will be AS90947.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Term Two will see the conclusion of the first inquiry, and the reporting of this. Feedback will be given, leading to the students making a submission to be assessed against AS90853. Depending on the timeline for the other Year 11 Science courses, we will then either work on Fair Testing, or start our first Science Inquiry.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Term Three should be very similar to Term Two, ideally with a second Science Inquiry being undertaken. As inquiries progress, potential Achievement Standards should be identified in conjunction between each student and the teacher. The aim for Term Four is to give the students time to turn their processes and findings into submissions for the Achievement Standards the students have elected to be assessed against.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><h4><span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Reporting</span></h4><div class="MsoTitle"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We have a mid-year report and a final report at the end of the year. The mid-year report will report on AS90955 (Investigate an astronomical or Earth science event) which we get the students to submit at the end of Year 10, as well as AS90947 and AS90853. Potentially, students will already have 12 credits earned before the end of Term Two.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">At the end of the year, we will only report on the common Achievement Standards, not the individually-elected ones. This means the course will appear to only have 16 credits available, but I expect to be able to find at least two more Science Achievement Standards per student to assess that student’s work against throughout the year.</div><br />Matt Nicollhttps://plus.google.com/102485571535790610352noreply@blogger.com0